Golden thoughts of Romans

The golden thoughts of the Romans have permanently gone down in history. Ancient Rome was full of great personalities, extraordinary knowledge and of great importance to the world of that time.

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Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus

(Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, 5th century BCE) – Roman consul, dictator:

• “Sometimes a tiny moment decides about great things”
  • source: Livy, Ab Urbe condita, III, 26

Marcus Furius Camillus

(Marcus Furius Camillus, c. 446 – 364 BCE) – Roman commander, 6-time military tribune:

• “Nie złotem, lecz żelazem odkupimy ojczyznę!”
  • latin: [Non auro, sed ferro, recuperanda est patria]
  • description: sprzeciwiając się zapłaceniu okupu celtyckim wojskom pod wodzą Brennusa.

Macrobius

(Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius, IV/V century BCE) – Roman writer:

• “The crow will not beak the other crow’s eye” [own translation]
  • latin: [Cornix cornici oculum non effodit]
  • source: Macrobius, Saturnalia, 7, 5

Appius Claudius Caecus

(Appius Claudius Caecus, c. 340 – 273 BCE) – politician and statesman:

• “Every man is the artisan of his own fortune”
  • latin: [Faber est suae quisque fortunae]
  • description: words also attributed to Julius Caesar.
  • source: Sallust, Speech to Caesar on the State
• “When you see a friend you forget your sorrows”
  • latin: [Amicum cum vides, obliviscere miserias]
• “Control yourself so that uncontrollability does not cause some deception and shame”
  • latin: [Compotem esse, ne quid fraudis stuoprive ferocia paret]
  • source: Grammatici Latini

Plautus

(Titus Maccius Plautus, c. 250 – c. 184 BCE) – Roman comedian, one of the oldest Roman writers:

• “He whom the gods love dies young”
  • latin: [Quem di diligunt, adolescens moritur]
  • source: Plautus, Bacchides
• “If you have conquered your inclination rather than your inclination you, you have reason to rejoice”
  • latin: [Si animum vicisti potius quam animus te, est quod gaudeas]
  • source: Plautus, Trinummus, II. 9

Ennius

Ennius

(Quintus Ennius, 239 – 169 BCE) – poet, considered the father of Roman poetry:

• “Good deeds misplaced, methinks, are evil deeds”
  • latin: [Bene facta male locata male facta arbitror]
  • description: quoting Ennius.
  • source: Cicero, De Officiis
• “The victor is not victorious if the vanquished does not consider himself so”
  • latin: [Qui vincit non est victor nisi victus fatetur]
  • source: Ennius, Annales, XXXI, 493
• “For to fight out a quarrel by force – it is a thing of boorish boars beloved”
  • source: Ennius, Annales
• “A man who, to one astray, graciously points out the way does it as one lights a torch from his own torch. No less light does it shed for him when he has lit the other’s”
• “All mortals desire themselves to be praised”
  • latin: [Omnes mortales sese laudarier optant]
  • source: Augustine of Hippo, De Trinitate, XIII, III
• “No one regards what is before his feet; we all gaze at the stars”
  • latin: [Quod est ante pedes nemo spectat, caeli scrutantur plagas]
  • source: Cicero, De Divinatione, II, XIII
• “The idle mind knows not what it wants”
  • latin: [Otioso in otio animus nescit quid velit]
  • source: Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae, XIX, X
• “The mind wanders unsure, except in that life is lived”
  • latin: [Incerte errat animus; praeterpropter vitam vivitur]
  • source: Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae, XIX, X
• “Fortune is given to brave men”
  • latin: [Fortibus est fortuna viris data]
  • source: Macrobius, Saturnalia VI, I
• “Not chaffering war but waging war, not with gold but with iron—thus let us of both sides make trial for our lives”
  • latin: [Nec cauponantes bellum sed belligerantes; ferro non auro vitam cernamus utrique]
  • source: Cicero, De Officiis, I, XII
• “Where the Gauls stealthily, at the time of night when sleep falls on men, attacked the high citadel and of a sudden stained with blood walls and watchers”
  • latin: [Qua Galli furtim noctu summa arcis adorti, moenia concubia vigilesque repente cruentant]
  • source: Macrobius, Saturnalia I, IV
• “Whom none could overcome with iron or gold”
  • latin: [Quem nemo ferro potuit superare nec auro]
  • source: Cicero, De Re Publica, III, IV
• “Neither you nor any man alive shall do this unpunished: no, you shall give recompense to me with your life-blood”
  • latin: [Nec pol homo quisquam faciet inpune animatus,hoc nec tu; nam mi calido dabis sanguine poenas]
  • source: Macrobius, Saturnalia VI, I
• “And earth who herself bestowed the body takes it back and wastes not a whit”
  • latin: [Terram corpus quae dederit, ipsam, capere neque dispendi facere hilum]
  • source: Varro, De Lingua Latina V
• “Open your eyelids, will you all, and let your brains leave sleep behind”
  • latin: [Pandite sultis genas et corde relinquite somnum]
  • source: Festus, De verborum significatione
• “No sooner said than done—so acts your man of worth”
  • latin: [Dictum factumque facit frux]
  • source: Priscianus, Ars Prisciani, VI
• “The Roman state survives by its ancient customs and its manhood”
  • latin: [Moribus antiquis res stat Romana virisque]
  • source: Ennius, Annals, V
• “One man, by delaying, restored the state to us. He valued safety more than mob’s applause; Hence now his glory more resplendent grows”
  • latin: [Unus homo nobis cunctando restituit rem. Noenum rumores ponebat ante salutem; Ergo plusque magisque viri nunc gloria claret]
  • source: Cicero, De Senectute, IV
• “The ape, vilest of beasts, how like to us!”
  • latin: [Simia quam similis turpissima bestia nobis!]
  • source: Cicero, Natura Deorum, I, XXXV
• “As a strong horse that has often won on the last lap at Olympia is now resting, tired out by old age”
  • latin: [Sicut fortis equus, spatio qui saepe supremo; Vicit Olympia, nunc senio confectus quiescit]
  • description: Ennius refers here to himself and his work Annals, sensing its ending.
  • source: Cicero, De Senectute, V
• “Whom they fear, they hate. And whom one hates, one hopes to see him dead”
  • latin: [Quem metuunt oderunt; quem quisque odit, perisse expetit]
  • source: Cicero, De Officiis, II, 23
• “Let no one pay me honor with tears, nor celebrate my funeral rites with weeping. Why? I fly, living, through the mouths of men”
  • latin: [Nemo me lacrumis decoret neque funera fletu faxit. Cur? volito vivos per ora virum]
  • source: Cicero, Tusculanae Disputationes, I, XV

Quotes of Ennius

Scipio Africanus the Elder

Scipio Africanus the Elder

(Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Maior, 236 – 184 BCE) – commander during the Second Punic War:

• “[…] prepare for war, since you have been unable to endure a peace”
  • latin: [bellum parate, quoniam pacem pati non potuistis]
  • description: words addressed to Hannibal before the battle of Zama in 202 BCE.
  • source: Livy, Ab Urbe Condita XXX, 31
• “Thankless country, thou shalt not possess even my bones!”
  • latin: [Ingrata patria, ne ossa quidem habebis]
  • source: Valerius Maximus, Factorvm et dictorvm memorabilivm libri Novem, V, III
• “The end of the war and hardship was at hand, the spoils of Carthage within reach, and the return home to their native city, to parents, children, wives and household gods”
  • latin: [Adesse finem belli ac laboris; in manibus esse praedam Carthaginis, reditum domum in patriam ad parentes liberos coniuges penatesque deos]
  • description: Scipio’s words to soldiers before the battle of Zama.
  • source: Livy, Ab Urbe Condita, XXX, 32
• “I would rather save the life of one citizen than kill a thousand enemies”
  • latin: [malle se unum civem servare quam mille hostes occidere]
  • source: Historia Augusta, Antoninus Pius, 9.10
• “I’m never less at leisure than when at leisure, or less alone than when alone”
  • latin: [numquam se minus otiosum esse, quam cum otiosus; nec minus solum, quam cum solus esset]
  • description: according to Cato the Elder
  • source: Cicero, De Officiis, III, I
• “I am mindful of human weakness, and I reflect upon the might of Fortune and know that everything that we do is exposed to a thousand chances”
  • latin: [Quod ad me attinet, et humanae infirmitatis memini et uim fortunae reputo et omnia quaecumque agimus subiecta esse mille casibus scio]
  • description: words addressed to Hannibal before the battle of Zama in 202 BCE.
  • source: Livy, Ab Urbe Condita, XXX, 31

Quotes of Scipio Africanus the Elder

Cato the Elder

Marcus Porcius Cato

Cato the Elder (Marcus Porcius Cato, 234 – 149 BCE) – speaker, politician, writer:

• “[…] it is a good plan to dip into their literature,1 it is not worth while to make a thorough acquaintance with it. They are a most iniquitous and intractable race […] shall bestow its literature upon Rome it will mar everything”
  • latin: [bonum sit illorum litteras inspicere, non perdiscere; vincam nequissimum et indocile esse genus illorum (…) quandoque ista gens suas litteras dabit, omnia conrumpet]
  • description: fragement of letter from Cato the Elder to his son, in which he is unfavorable about the Greeks, but at the same time appreciates them.
  • source: Pliny the Elder, Natural history, XXIX.7
• “Furthermore, I consider that Carthage must be destroyed”
  • latin: [Ceterum censeo Karthaginem esse delendam]
  • description: Cato the Elder, an implacable enemy of Carthage, ended all speeches in the Roman Senate with such words.
  • source: Plutarch, Marcus Cato 27, 1
• “Well done, for when shameful lust has swollen the veins, it is suitable that young men should come down here rather than fool around with other men’s wives”
  • description: spotting a young man coming out of a brothel.
  • source: Horace, Satirae
• “To each his own”
  • latin: [Suum cuique]
  • description: words referring to the old Greek rule of law, which in Plato’s work “Republic”, are described as “justice is when everyone minds his own business”.
  • source: Cato the Elder, De Natura Deorum, III, 38
• “When those folk [Greeks] give us their writings they will corrupt everything. All the more if they send their doctors here”
  • latin: [vincam nequissimum et indocile genus illorum, et hoc puta vatem dixisse: quandoque ista gens suas litteras dabit, omnia conrumpet, tum etiam magis, si medicos suos hoc mittet]
  • source: Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, 29.14
• “Between the mouth and the morsel”
  • latin: [Inter os atque offam (multa intervenire possunt)]
  • description: firstly quoted by Aristotle. In the Latin version, quoted by Gellius as a fragment of the speech of Cato the Elder.
  • source: Gellius, Noctes Atticae, XIII, 17, 1
• “Beautiful woman is like a gilded pill – pleasing to the eyes, bitter to the lips”
• “Moreover, I consider that Carthage should be destroyed”
  • latin: [Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam]
  • description: words of Cato the Elder, with which he ended all of his speeches in the Roman senate. Often quotes also as “Carthago delenda est”.
  • source: Florus, Epitome of Roman History I, 31
• “Grasp the subject, the words will follow.”
  • latin: [Rem tene, verba sequentur]
  • source: Gaius Julius Victor, Ars Rhetorica
• “All mankind rules its women, and we rule all mankind, but our women rule us”
  • description: about prevalent domination of women; source is in greek.
  • source: Plutarch, Apophthegmata regum et imperatorum
• “Thieves who have robbed private individuals spend their lives in prison and chains, and public thieves in gold and purple”
  • latin: [Fures privatorum furtorum in nervo atque in compedibus aetatem agunt, fures publici in auro atque in purpura]
  • source: Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae XI, 18, 18
• “Buy not what you want, but what you have need of; what you do not want is dear at a farthing”
  • latin: [Emas non quod opus est, sed quod necesse est. Quod non opus est, asse carum est]
  • description: a farthing was a quarter of an old British penny, so Cato meant that if you buy something you don’t want, a farthing would be too much to pay for it.
  • source: Seneka the Younger, Epistles, 94
• “Grasp the subject, the words will follow”
  • latin: [Rem tene, verba sequentur]
  • description: suggestions for orators.
  • source: Julius Victor, Art of Rhetoric
• “Wise men learn more from fools than fools from the wise”
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 9
• “I would much rather have men ask why I have no statue, than why I have one”
  • greek: [‘μᾶλλον γὰρ,’ ἔφη, ‘βούλομαι ζητεῖσθαι, διὰ τί μου ἀνδριὰς οὐ κεῖται ἢ διὰ τί κεῖται’]
  • source: Plutarch, Cato, 19:4
• “I would much rather have men ask why I have no statue, than why I have one”
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 19:4
• “The pursuits of commerce would be as admirable as they are profitable if they were not subject to so great risks: and so, likewise, of banking, if it was always honestly conducted. For our ancestors considered, and so ordained in their laws, that, while the thief should be cast in double damages, the usurer should make four-fold restitution”
  • source: Cato the Elder, De Agri Cultura
• “When you have decided to purchase a farm, be careful not to buy rashly; do not spare your visits and be not content with a single tour of inspection. The more you go, the more will the place please you, if it be worth your attention. Give heed to the appearance of the neighbourhood, – a flourishing country should show its prosperity. “When you go in, look about, so that, when needs be, you can find your way out”.”
  source
  • source: Cato the Elder, De Agri Cultura
• “When you have arrived at your country house and have saluted your household, you should make the rounds of the farm the same day, if possible; if not, then certainly the next day. When you have observed how the field work has progressed, what things have been done, and what remains undone, you should summon your overseer the next day, and should call for a report of what work has been done in good season and why it has not been possible to complete the rest, and what wine and corn and other crops have been gathered”
  source
  • source: Cato the Elder, De Agri Cultura
• “The accounts of money, supplies and provisions should then be considered. The overseer should report what wine and oil has been sold, what price he got, what is on hand, and what remains for sale. Security should be taken for such accounts as ought to be secured. All other unsettled matters should be agreed upon. If any thing is needed for the coming year, it should be bought; every thing which is not needed should be sold. Whatever there is for lease should be leased”
  source
  • source: Cato the Elder, De Agri Cultura
• “These are the duties of the overseer: He should maintain discipline. He should observe the feast days. He should respect the rights of others and steadfastly uphold his own. He should settle all quarrels among the hands; If any one is at fault he should administer the punishment. He should take care that no one on the place is in want, or lacks food or drink; in this respect he can afford to be generous, for he will thus more easily prevent picking and stealing”
  source
  • source: Cato the Elder, De Agri Cultura
• “The overseer should be responsible for the duties of the housekeeper. If the master has given her to you for a wife, you should be satisfied with her, and she should respect you. Require that she be not given to wasteful habits; that she does not gossip with the neighbours and other women. She should not receive visitors either in the kitchen or in her own quarters. She should not go out to parties, nor should she gad about”
  source
  • source: Cato the Elder, De Agri Cultura
• “Those who are eager to hold high office frequently, are like men who did not know the road, they sought to be ever attended on their way by lictors, lest they go astray”
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 8
• “You will be thought, not to deem your offices worth much, or else not to deem many men worthy of your offices”
  • description: Cato criticized the election of the same people to high offices over and over again.
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 8
• “This man’s mother holds the wish that he may survive her to be no pious prayer, but a malignant curse”
  • description: Cato about one of his enemies who was known for his shameful life.
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 8
• “This man has drunk down with ease what the sea found it hard to wash away”
  • description: Cato on the news that a certain Roman had sold his patrimony near the sea.
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 8
• “Surely, he is an excellent man, and a friend of Rome. Granted, but the animal known as king is by nature carnivorous”
  • description: when king of Pergammon Eumenes II was in Rome and the senate remarkably him accepted, Cato looked at him with suspicion and caution
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 8
• “My enemies hated me, because I rose every day before it was light and, neglecting my own private matters, devoted my time to the public interests”
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 8
• “Romans were sending out an embassy which had neither feet, nor head, nor heart”
  • description: when Romans chose three ambassadors to Bithynia, of whom one was gouty, another had had his head trepanned, and the third was deemed a fool.
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 9
• “Here we sit all day, as if we had naught else to do, debating whether some poor old Greeks shall be buried here or in Achaia”
  • description: regarding the thousand Achaean hostages resettled to Rome as favoring Macedonia (among them was the Greek historian – Polybius). There were discussions in the Senate about whether to let them return or whether they should stay in Italy.
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 9
• “Polybius, as if he were another Odysseus, wanted to go back into the cave of the Cyclops for a cap and belt which he had left there”
  • description: Cato’s ironic words about the return of property to Achaean hostages in Achaia.
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 9
• “Wise men profited more from fools than fools from wise men; for the wise shun the mistakes of fools, but fools do not imitate the successes of the wise”
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 9
• “Where can such a body be of service to the state, when everything between its gullet and its groins is devoted to belly?”
  • description: mockingly to an obese Roman.
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 9
• “I could not live with a man whose palate was more sensitive than his heart”
  • description: mockingly to the gourmet.
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 9
• “The lover his soul dwelt in the body of another”
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 9
• “Man, old age has disgraces enough of its own; do not add to them the shame of vice”
  • description: to the bad old man.
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 9
• “Young man, I know not which is worse, to drink your mixtures, or to enact your bills”
  • description: to tribune of plebs, who was under the charge of poisoning and wanting to pass his law.
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 9
• “I fight an unequal battle with you: you listen to abuse calmly, and utter it glibly; while for me it is unpleasant to utter it, and unusual to hear it”
  • description: to a man with a bad past who slandered him.
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 9
• “It is better to have many Romans go home with silver in their pockets​ than a few with gold”
  • description: Cato’s soldiers in the wars in Spain took considerable loot. Despite this, Cato gave each legionary an additional 330 grams of silver, saying that it would be better for many Romans to return home with silver than a small group with gold.
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 10
• “Only then would Rome be at her greatest, when her men of high birth refused to yield the palm of virtue to men of lower rank, and when plebeians contended in virtue with their superiors in birth and reputation”
  • description: Cato’s words in relation to Scipio Africanus, who succeeded him in the office of governor of the province of Spain, complained about his recent victorious warfare.
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 11
• “They might have shown him indulgence had he undertaken his task in consequence of a compulsory vote of the Amphictyonic Assembly”
  • description: reaction to the work of the Roman historian Postumius Albinus, consul from 151 BCE, which he wrote in Greek. Cato laughed that Albinus had used Greek while being forced by members of the union of Greek cities.
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 12
• “These are the sacrifices we must bring to the spirits of our parents; not lambs and kids, but the condemnations and tears of their enemies”
  • description: Cato’s words to a young Roman whom he met at the Forum after he condemned the enemy of his deceased father.
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 15
• “It is hard for one who has lived among men of one generation, to make his defence before those of another”
  • description: regarding the fact that he was repeatedly sued by other Romans.
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 15
• “I adjure you, if you are wise, not to choose the most agreeable physician, but the one who was most in earnest”
  • description: Cato’s words to the Romans, when he applied for the post of censor – an official who supervised the customs and way of life of citizens.
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 16
• “Good citizen should not even allow himself to be praised, unless such praise was beneficial to the commonwealth”
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 19
• “Although they knew it not, their pride was based simply on the work of statuaries and painters, whereas my own images, of the most exquisite workmanship, were borne about in the hearts of my fellow citizens”
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 19
• “The man who struck his wife or child, laid violent hands on the holiest of holy things”
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 20
• “Heaven forbid! my son, all your conduct towards me has been admirable, and I have no fault to find with you; but I desire to bless myself and my country with more such sons”
  • description: words to his son, who asked his father if he had made any trouble for him to bring his stepmother home. At the end of his life, Cato, after the death of his wife Licinia, had an affair with the slave girl Salonia, whom he later married.
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 24
• “Only he has wits, but the rest are fluttering shadows”
  • description: words about Scipio Africanus the Younger, who in the third Punic War was at the beginning a military tribune and was distinguished by courage and intelligence. Over time, Scipio was to receive the main command. It should be added that initially the Romans were very ineffective, and Rome was very impatient with the lack of success in the war.
  • source: Plutarch, Life of Cato, 27

Quotes of Cato the Elder

Terence

Terence

(Publius Terentius Afer, 185/4 – 159 BCE) – playwright:

• “I know women: when you want, they don’t want; when you don’t want to, then they care a lot”
  • latin: [Immo certe: novi ingenium mulierum: nolunt ubi velis, ubi nolis cupiunt ultro]
  • description: own translation from Polish.
  • source: Terence, Eunuchus, 812-813
• “Do you think it’s possible to find a woman without flaws?”
  • latin: [Censen te posse reperir ullam mulierem, quae careat culpa]
  • description: own translation from Polish.
  • source: Terence, Hecyra, 662
• “Nothing so unjust as an ignorant man, who thinks nothing right but what he himself has done”
  • latin: [Homine imperito numquam quicquam iniustius est, qui, nisi quod ipse fecit, nil rectum putat]
  • source: Terence, Adelphoe, 98-99
• “How is man unequal to man!”
  • latin: [Homini homo quid praestat!]
  • description: own translation from Polish.
  • source: Terence, Eunuchus, 232
• “Often you can’t be the person you want to be because circumstances don’t allow it”
  • latin: [Non licet hominem esse saepe ita, ut volt, si res non sinit]
  • description: own translation from Polish.
  • source: Terence, Heauton timorumenos, 666
• “We are all the worse for license”
  • latin: [Deteriores omnes sumus licentia]
  • source: Terence, Heauton timorumenos, 483
• “Everyone cares more about their own than others”
  • latin: [Omnis sibi malle melius esse quam alteri]
  • description: own translation from Polish.
  • source: Terence, Andria, 427
• “Obsequiousness begets friends; sincerity, dislike”
  • latin: [Obsequium amicos, veritas odium parit]
  • source: Terence, Andria, 68
• “As the disposition of all mankind has a downward tendency from industry toward pleasure”
  • latin: [Ita […] ingenium est omnium, hominum ab labore proclive ad lubidinem]
  • source: Terence, Andria, 77-78
• “Whatever fortune brings, we will patiently bear”
  • latin: [Quod fors feret, feremus aequo animo]
  • source: Terence, Phormio, 138
• “Sny man should take it into his head, or find out what is dearer to him than he is to himself!”
  • latin: [Quemquamne hominem in animo instituere aut, parare quod sit carius, quam ipse est sibi!]
  • source: Terence, Adelphoe, 38-39
• “Nothing is more advantageous to a person than courtesy and compassion (Terence)”
  • latin: [Facilitate nil esse homini melius neque clementia]
  • source: Terence, Adelphoe, 861
• “All things are common among friends”
  • latin: [Communia esse amicorum inter se omnia]
  • source: Terence, Adelphoe, 804
• “I am human, I consider nothing human alien to me”
  • latin: [Homo sum; humani nil a me alienum puto]
  • source: Terence, Heauton timorumenos, 77
• “If two do the same thing, it is not the same”
  • latin: [Si duo faciunt idem, non est idem]
  • source: Terence, The Brothers V, 3, 37
• “As many men, so as many opinions”
  • latin: [Quot homines tot sententiae: suo’ quoique mos]
  • source: Terence, Phormio 454
• “I’m Davus, not Oedipus”
  • latin: [Davus sum, non Oedipus]
  • description: words of slave, once he was asked to solve the problem.
  • source: Terence, Andria 1.2
• “Lovers’ quarrels are the renewal of love”
  • latin: [Amantium irae amoris integratio est]
  • source: Terence, Andria 555
• “He who is first in time is first in right”
  • latin: [Potior est, qui prior est]
  • source: Terence, Phormio II, 3
• “Do not do what is done”
  • latin: [Actum ne agas]
  • source: Terence, Phormio II, III, 72
• “Said and done”
  • latin: [Dictum, factum]
  • source: Terence, Andria 2, 3, 7
• “(the) strong (ones), Fortune helps”
  • latin: [Fortis fortuna adiuvat]
  • source: Terence, Phormio, I, 4
• “Strictest law means greatest hardship”
  • latin: [Ius summum saepe summast malitia]
  • source: Terence, Heauton Timorumenos, 796
• “These days flattery wins friends, truth begets hatred”
  • latin: [Obsequium amicos, veritas odium parit]
  • source: Terence, Andria 68
• “The wolf in the story”
  • latin: [Lupus in fabula!]
  • source: Terence, Adelphoe
• “Alas! three whole days to wait!”
  • latin: [Heu! universum triduum!]
  • source: Terence, Eunuchus II, I, 17
• “Lovers are lunatics”
  • latin: [Amantes amentes]
  • source: Terence, Andria
• “Of my friends I am the only one left”
• “I know the nature of women; when you will they won’t, when you won’t they long for it”
  • latin: [Novi ingenium mulierum: nolunt ubi velis, ubi nolis cupiunt ultro]
  • source: Terence, Eunuchus IV
• “It is with human life as with a game of dice: if the throw you with for happens not to come up, that which does come up by chance, you must correct by art”
  • latin: [Ita uitast hominum, quasi quom ludas tesseris:si illud quod maxume opus est iactu non cadit, illud quod cecidit forte, id arte ut corrigas.]
  • source: Terence, Brothers IV

Quotes of Terence

Scipio Africanus the Younger

(Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus Minor, 185 – 129 BCE) – Roman commander from the Third Punic War:

• “How can I, who have so many times heard the battle shout of the enemy without feeling fear, be disturbed by the shouts of men like you, to whom Italy is only a stepmother”
  • latin: [Et cum omnis contio adclamasset, hostium, inquit, armatorum totiens clamore non territus, qui possum vestro moveri, quorum noverca est Italia?]
  • source: Velleius Paterculus, Roman History, II, 4

Publius Sempronius Asellio

(2nd-1st century BCE) – Roman historian:

• “Furthermore, to write over and over again in whose consul­ship a war was begun and ended, and who in consequence entered the city in a triumph, and in that book not to state what happened in the course of the war, what decrees the senate made during that time, or what law or bill was passed, and with what motives these things were done — that is to tell stories to children, not to write history.”
  • latin: [Scribere autem, bellum initum quo consule et quo confectum sit et quis triumphans introierit, et eo libro, quae in bello gesta sint, non praedicare autem interea quid senatus decreverit aut quae lex rogatiove lata sit, neque quibus consiliis ea gesta sint, iterare: id fabulas pueris est narrare, non historias scribere]
  • source: Gellius, Noctes Atticae, V.18

Accius

(Lucius Accius, 170 – 85 BCE) – poeta:

• “Let them hate, so long as they fear”
  • latin: [Oderint, dum metuant]
  • description: words of Caligula about Romans.
  • source: Accius, Atreus

Gaius Marius

(Gaius Marius, 157/6 – BCE) – Roman general and consul:

• “May no Roman ever think that land too small which suffices to maintain him”
  • description: Gaius Marius’s reaction to his veterans’ demands for more land allotments after military service. Interestingly, Roman soldiers were given lands of 3.5-4 hectares, which is twice as much as was required by customary law.
  • source: Plutarch, Crassus, 2
• “I do not know whether to call the enemy or you the greater cowards; for they were not able to see your backs, nor you their napes”
  • description: words he was supposed to say during the battle with Marsi, during the so-called “wars with allies”, to his soldiers who disobeyed his orders. In the end, the Romans won.
  • source: Plutarch, Marius, 33

Lucius Cornelius Sulla

(Lucius Cornelius Sulla, 138 – 78 BCE) – Roman dictator, representative of optimates:

• “First learn to row, before you try to steer”
  • description: words he was to say after bringing him the head of the son of Gaius Marius, his opponent in the struggle for power in Rome.
  • source: Appian of Alexandria, Roman history, XIII.94
• “A husbandman was bitten by fleas while ploughing. He stopped his ploughing twice in order to shake them out of his shirt. When they bit him again he burned his shirt, to avoid interruption in his work. And I tell you, who have felt my hand twice, to take warning lest the third time you need fire”
  • description: about the abuse of patience by other politicians.
  • source: Appian of Alexandria, Roman history, XIII.101
• “No friend ever served me, and no enemy ever wrong me, whom I have not repaid in full”
  • description: words written on Sulla’s tombstone and on his request.
  • source: Pluarch, Sulla, 38.4
• “Have your way and take him; only bear in mind that the man you are so eager to save will one day deal the death blow to the cause of the aristocracy, which you have joined with me in upholding; for in this Caesar there is more than one Marius”
  • latin: [vincerent ac sibi haberent, dum modo scirent eum, quem incolumem tanto opere cuperent, quandoque optimatium partibus, quas secum simul defendissent, exitio futurum; nam Caesari multos Marios inesse]
  • description: Sulla’s words about Julius Caesar, in the face of politicians’ pleas to spare Caesar’s life. Caesar had family ties with Gaius Mariuss – Sulla’s rival.
  • source: Suetonius, Gaius Julius Caesar, 1

Lucius Cassius Longinus

(2nd – 1st century BCE) – Roman judge and politician:

• “To whom might it be for a benefit?”
  • latin: [Cui bono fuerit?]
  • description: recommended question – regarding the identification of suspected crime, which should be asked during the trial. It expresses the view that crimes are oftentimes committed to benefit their perpetrators, especially financially.
  • source: Cicero, Pro Roscio Amerino, 84, 86

Marcus Terentius Varro

(Marcus Terentius Varro, 116 – 27 BCE) – Roman writer and scholar, legate and commander:

• “The Roman conquers by sitting still”
  • latin: [Romanus sedendo vincit]
  • description: a reference to the virtues of the Romans who succeed through diligence and patience.
  • source: Varro, De re rustica, ks. 2, rozdz. II

Marcus Licinius Crassus

(114 – 53 p.n.e.) – Roman politician and general:

• “[…] men who were fond of building were their own undoers, and needed no other foes”
  • description: Crassus made a huge fortune, thanks to the creation of a kind of construction company that built numerous tenement houses (insulae) in Rome at a time when there was a housing shortage in the capital.
  • source: Plutarch, Crasssus, 2
• “[…] no one was rich who could not support an army out of his substance”
  • source: Plutarch, Crasssus, 2

Pompeius the Great

(Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, 106 – 48 BCE) – Roman politician and military commander; optimates supporter:

• “We are contending for liberty and country”
  • description: words taken from Pompey’s speech, addressed to the army, before the battle of Pharsalus in 48 BCE.
  • source: Appian of Alexandria, The Civil Wars, II, 72
• “Why do you keep praising the laws before me when I am wearing a sword?”
  • description: in 82 BCE Pompey went to Sicily as Sulla’s general in order to regain the island from the hands of Gaius Marius’ supporters. Pompey regained control of the island, and when the city dwellers began to comment on his judgment, he replied with these words. Other version of words: Cease quoting laws to us that have swords girt about us!
  • source: Plutarch, Pompey, 10
• “We have to sail, we do not have to live”
  • latin: [Navigare necesse est, vivere non est necesse]
  • description: when Rome was experiencing a food crisis, Pompey became the head of the grain supply to Rome. When he tried to bounce off the shore with delivery, a storm broke out at sea. The crew was so scared that they were afraid to sail out into the wide sea. At that time Pompey was to prove his dedication to saving the starving Roman masses with these words.
  • source: Plutarch, Pompey, 50

Cicero

Cicero

(Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106 – 43 BCE) – speaker, politician and philosopher:

• “At no time does a man come closer to the gods than when engaged in the rescue of his fellow man”
  • latin: [Homines enim ad deos nulla re propius accedunt quam salutem hominibus dando]
  • source: Cicero, Pro Ligario, 38
• “If only it were as easy to find the truth as it is to detect the lie”
  • latin: [Utinam tam facile vera invenire possim quam falsa convincere]
  • source: Cicero, De Natura Deorum, I.32
• “Valour abroad is of little use if there is not also wise counsel at home”
  • latin: [Parvi enim sunt foris arma, nisi est consilium domi]
  • source: Cicero, De officiis, I.22
• “I have never understood avarice in old men. What could be more absurd than wanting to add more and more baggage to your journey as you draw nearer to its end?”
  • latin: [Avaritia vero senilis quid sibi velit, non intellego; potest enim quicquam esse absurdius quam, quo viae minus restet, eo plus viatici quaerere? ]
  • source: Cicero, On Old Age, XVIII.66
• “The health of the people should be the supreme law”
  • latin: [Salus publica suprema lex esto]
  • source: Cicero, Leg., III.8
• “Recall what marches in recent years our generals undertook in Italy through the fields and townships of Roman citizens! Then you will decide more easily on what you think is happening among foreign peoples. Do you believe that in recent years more cities were destroyed through the armed violence of your soldiers or more allied communities through their winter quarters?”
  • latin: [Itinera, quae per hosce annos in Italia per agros atque oppida civium Romanorum nostri imperatores fecerint, recordamini: tum facilius statuetis, quid apud exteras nationes fieri existimetis. Utrum plures arbitramini per hosce annos militum vestrorum armis hostium urbes an hibernis sociorum civitates esse deletas?]
  • source: Cicero, On Pompey’s Command, 38
• “Unbecoming to a gentleman, too, and vulgar are the means of livelihood of all hired workmen whom we pay for mere manual labour, not for artistic skill; for in their case the very wage they receive is a pledge of their slavery”
  • latin: [Illiberales autem et sordidi quaestus mercennariorum omnium, quorum operae, non quorum artes emuntur; est enim in illis ipsa merces auctoramentum servitutis]
  • source: Cicero, De Officiis, I.150.42
• “Friends share everything”
  • latin: [Amicorum omnia sunt communia]
  • source: Cicero, De Officiis, 16
• “You have good reason to fear that the censor will deal harshly with me – for drinking water”
  • latin: [Amicorum omnia sunt communia]
  • description: Cicero’s joke aimed at the censor Lucius Aurelius Cotta, in the company of friends, in 64 CE. Cicero, being thirsty, drank some water when the censor was known for his love of wine.
  • source: Plutarch, Cicero, 27
• “Nature has not brought us into the world to act as if we were created for play or jest, but rather for earnestness and for some more serious and important pursuits. We may, of course, indulge in sport and jest, but in the same way as we enjoy sleep or other relaxations, and only when we have satisfied the claims of our earnest, serious tasks”
  • latin: [Neque enim ita generati a natura sumus, ut ad ludum et iocum facti esse videamur, ad severitatem potius et ad quaedam studia graviora atque maiora. ludo autem et ioco uti illo quidem licet, sed sicut somno et quietibus ceteris tum, cum gravibus seriisque rebus satis fecerimus]
  • source: Cicero, On Duties, I.103
• “But certainly there is nothing better, or more excellent, or more beautiful than the world”
  • latin: [Atqui certe nihil omnium rerum melius est mundo, nihil praestantius, nihil pulchrius, nec solum nihil est]
  • source: Cicero, De natura deorum, II
• “Problem requiring an Archimedes”
  • latin: [πρόβλημα Ἀρχιμήδειον est]
  • description: problem difficult to solve
  • source: Cicero, Ad Atticum, 12, 4
• “Arguments to be weighed, not counted”
  • latin: [Argumenta non numeranda, sed ponderanda sunt]
  • source: Cicero, De oratore, II, 76
• “We are slaves of the law so that we may be able to be free”
  • latin: [Legum servi sumus ut liberi esse possimus]
  • source: Cicero, Pro Cluentio, 53.146
• “For not only is Fortune blind herself, but as a rule she even blinds those whom she has embraced”
  • latin: [Non enim solum ipsa fortuna caeca est, sed eos etiam plerumque efficit caecos, quos complexa est]
  • source: Cicero, De Amicitia, 54
• “The whole life of philosophers is the meditation of death”
  • latin: [Tota philosophorum vita commentatio mortis est]
  • source: Cicero, Tusculanae Quaestiones, II.30
• “Virtue is perfected reason”
  • latin: [virtus est perfecta ratio]
  • source: Cicero, De legibus, I, 16, 45
• “To conceal is one thing; to be silent is another thing”
  • latin: [Aliud est celare, aliud tacere]
  • source: Cicero, De officiis, III, 14
• “What he sees frequently causes him no astonishment even though he does not know how it happened. If something happens which he never saw before he considers it a portent”
  • latin: [Quod crebro videt non miratur, etiamsi cur fiat nescit. Quod ante non vidit, id si evenerit, ostentum esse censet]
  • source: Cicero, De Divinatione, II. 22
• “Nothing can possibly seem expedient that is not morally right”
  • latin: [Quod honestum non est, id ne utile quidem]
  • source: Cicero, De Officiis, 78
• “A man’s own manner and character is what most becomes him”
• “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth”
  • latin: [Equi donati dentes non inspiciuntur]
  • source: Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum, 15, 17
• “The greatest theater for virtue is conscience”
  • latin: [Nullum theatrum virtuti conscientia maiorest]
  • source: Cicero, Tusculanarum disputationum omnes, I.64
• “The health of the people should be the supreme law”
  • latin: [Salus populi suprema lex]
  • source: Cicero, De Legibus, III, III, VIII
• “Nothing is good, except what is honorable, nothing evil, except what is disgraceful”
  • latin: [Nihil bonum nisi quod honestum, nihil malum nisi quod turpe]
  • source: Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum, 10.4.4
• “Good men would prosper and bad men come to grief”
  • latin: [Bene bonis, male malis]
  • source: Cicero, De Natura Deorum, III, 32, 80
• “Use is the best master”
  • latin: [Usus magister est optimus]
  • source: Cicero, De Oratore, III
• “Parents are dear, children dear, relations, friends. But our country alone has embraced all the dearest ties of all”
  • latin: [Cari sunt parentes, cari liberi, propinqui, familiares, sed omnium caritates patria una complexa est]
  • source: Cicero, De Officiis, I, XVII
• “Other I”
  • latin: [Alter ego]
  • description: Cicero described this way a friend, who in his opinion is “the greatest of all the gifts from the gods”.
  • source: Cicero, De Amicitia
• “To commit the same error twice”
  • latin: [Bis ad eundem lapidem offendere]
  • source: Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares, 10, 20, 2
• “Philosophy is the art of life”
  • latin: [Ars est philosophia vitae]
  • source: Cicero, De finibus, III, 4
• “Philosophy is the cultivation of the soul”
  • latin: [Cultura animi philosophia est]
  • source: Cicero, Tusculanae Disputationes, II, 5
• “When to an excellent and admirable natural disposition there is added a certain system and training of education, then from that combination arises an extraordinary perfection of character”
  • latin: [Cum ad naturam eximiam et illustrem accessit ratio quaedam conformatioque doctrinae, tum illud nescio quid praeclarum ac singulare existere]
  • source: Cicero, Pro Archia, 15
• “When they remain quiet, they actually approve of my conduct”
  • latin: [Cum quiescunt, probant]
  • description: Cicero’s words against Catilina about the assembled senators.
  • source: Cicero, In Catilinam, I 21
• “The roots of stupidity are very deep”
• “Hunger is the best cook”
  • latin: [Fames est optimus coquus]
• “Hannibal at the gates”
  • latin: [Hannibal ad portas!]
  • source: Cicero, Philippicae 1, 5, 11
• “History is life’s teacher”
  • latin: [Historia magistra vitae est]
  • source: Cicero, De Oratore, II, 36
• “By what other voice, too, than that of the orator, is history, the witness of time, the light of truth, the life of memory, the directress of life, the herald of antiquity, committed to immortality?”
  • latin: [Historia vero testis temporum, lux veritatis, vita memoriae, magistra vitae, nuntia vetustatis, qua voce alia nisi oratoris immortalitati commendatur?]
  • source: Cicero, De Oratore, II, 36
• “Names are hateful”
  • latin: [Nomina sunt odiosa]
  • description: names should not be mentioned.
• “For it is not the written but natural law, that it is lawful to repel force with force”
  • latin: [Est enim ea non scripta, sed nata lex, quod vim vi repellere licet]
• “When, O Catiline, do you mean to cease abusing our patience? How long is that madness of yours still to mock us? When is there to be an end of that unbridled audacity of yours, swaggering about as it does now? Do not the nightly guards placed on the Palatine Hill—do not the watches posted throughout the city—does not the alarm of the people, and the union of all good men—does not the precaution taken of assembling the senate in this most defensible place—do not the looks and countenances of this venerable body here present, have any effect upon you? Do you not feel that your plans are detected? Do you not see that your conspiracy is already arrested and rendered powerless by the knowledge which every one here possesses of it? What is there that you did last night, what the night before— where is it that you were—who was there that you summoned to meet you—what design was there which was adopted by you, with which you think that any one of us is unacquainted? Shame on the age and on its principles!”
  • latin: [Quo usque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra? Quam diu etiam furor iste tuus nos eludet? Quem ad finem sese effrenata iactabit audacia? Nihilne te nocturnum praesidium Palati, nihil urbis vigiliae, nihil timor populi, nihil concursus bonorum omnium, nihil hic munitissimus habendi senatus locus, nihil horum ora voltusque moverunt? Patere tua consilia non sentis, constrictam iam horum omnium scientia teneri coniurationem tuam non vides? Quid proxima, quid superiore nocte egeris, ubi fueris, quos convocaveris, quid consilii ceperis, quem nostrum ignorare arbitraris? O tempora, o mores!]
  • description: first speech in the Roman Senate on October 8, 63 BCE.
  • source: Cicero, In Catilinam, I, 1
• “It is the peculiar quality of a fool to perceive the faults of others, and to forget his own”
  • latin: [Est proprium stultitiæ aliorum vitia cernere, oblivisci suorum]
  • source: Cicero, Tusculanarum Disputationum, III.30
• “I am Roman citizen”
  • latin: [Civis Romanus sum]
  • description: by saying these words, a Roman citizen evaded the trial outside his home country.
  • source: Cicero, In Verrem 5, 57, 147
• “To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?”
  • latin: [Nescire autem quid ante quam natus sis acciderit, id est semper esse puerum. Quid enim est aetas hominis, nisi ea memoria rerum veterum cum superiorum aetate contexitur?]
  • source: Cicero, Orator, 120
• “Any man is liable to a mistake; but no one but a downright fool will persist in error”
  • latin: [Cuiusvis hominis est errare, nullius nisi insipientis in errore perseverare]
  • source: Cicero, The Twelfth Philippic, II
• “Excess of liberty either in nations or in individuals turns into an excess of servitude”
  • latin: [Nimiaque illa libertas et populis et privatis in nimiam servitutem cadit]
  • source: Cicero, De Re Publica, I 68
• “For even if the allotted space of life be short, it is long enough in which to live honourably and well”
  • latin: [Breve tempus aetis satis longum est ad bene honestumque vivendum]
  • source: Cicero, Cato Maior De Senectute, 70
• “The one who suffers has a memory”
• “When they remain silent, they cry out”
  • latin: [Cum tacent, clamant]
  • description: silence is more eloquent than speech.
  • source: Cicero, In Catilinam, I, 3
• “We are slaves of the law so that we may be able to be free”
• “Therefore, true friendships are very hard to find among those whose time is spent in office or in business of a public kind. For where can you find a man so high-minded as to prefer his friend’s advancement to his own?”
  • latin: [Amicitiae difficillimae reperiuntur in iis, qui in honoribus reque publica versantur. Ubi enim istum invenies, qui honorem amici anteponat suo?]
  • source: Cicero, Laelius de amicitia, 64
• “Surely nothing is more vital than the clear realization that we are born for justice”
  • latin: [Nihil est profecto praestabilius, quam plane intellegi, nos ad iustitiam esse natos]
  • source: Cicero, De Legibus, I.28
• “Nothing blooms forever; generation succeeds generation”
  • latin: [Nihil enim semper floret, aetas succedit aetati]
  • source: Cicero, Philippics, 11.39
• “Not to be greedy is wealth”
• “Therefore, we do not use the proverbial “fire and water” on more occasions than we use friendship”
  • latin: [Itaque non aqua, non igni, ut aiunt, locis pluribus utimur quam amicitia]
  • source: Cicero, De Amicitia, VI.22
• “There is nothing more unbearable than a fool who is prospering”
• “For no part of life, neither public affairs nor private, neither in the forum notr at home, neither when acting on our own nor in dealings with another, can be free from duty”
  • latin: [Nulla enim vitae pars neque publicis neque privatis neque forensibus neque domesticis in rebus, neque si tecum agas quid, neque si cum altero contrahas]
  • source: Cicero, De Officiis, I.4
• “I never yet heard of an old man that forgot where he had hid his treasure”
  • latin: [Nec vero quemquam senem audivi oblitum, quo loco thesaurum obruisset]
  • source: Cicero, De Senectute, 7
• “There is nothing so absurd but some philosopher has said it”
  • latin: [Nihil tam absurde dici potest quod non dicatur ab aliquo filosophorum]
  • source: Cicero, De Divinatione, II, 58.
• “For not only is Fortune blind herself, but as a rule she even blinds those whom she has embraced”
  • latin: [Non enim solum ipsa Fortuna caeca est sed eos etiam plerumque efficit caecos quos complexa est]
  • source: Cicero, De Amicitia, 54
• “That no individual, or combination of individuals, should be allowed to become too powerful; that politics is a professon, not a pastime for dilettantes”
  • description: Cicero in book.
  • source: Robert Harris, Dictator
• “Let arms yield to the toga, let the victor’s laurel yield to the orator’s tongue”
  • latin: [Cedant arma togae, concedat laurea laudi]
  • description: let there be a peace
  • source: Cicero, De officiis, I.22.
• “Let him drink or depart”
  • latin: [Aut bibat aut abeat!]
  • description: wording emphasizing the nature of Roman banquets.
  • source: Cicero, Tusculanae Disputationes, V, 41
• “Never less alone than when alone”
  • latin: [Nunquam minus solus quam cum solus]
  • source: Cicero, De Officiis, III.1
• “No one is so old as to think that he cannot live one more year”
  • latin: [Nemo enim est tam senex qui se annum non putet posse vivere]
  • source: Cicero, Cato Maior de Senectute, 24
• “Shame on the age and on its principles!”
  • latin: [O tempora! O mores!]
  • source: Cicero, In Catilinam, I, 1
• “He has left, absconded, escaped and disappeared”
  • latin: [Abiit, evasit, excessit, erupit]
  • description: Cicero’s famous description of Catiline’s escape in the second Catiline oration.
  • source: Cicero, In Catilinam, II, 1, 1
• “A friend in need is a friend indeed”
  • latin: [Amicus certus in re incerta cernitur]
  • description: quoting Ennius.
  • source: Cicero, Laelius de Amicitia, 17, 64
• “The sinews of war, unlimited money”
  • latin: [Nervi belli, pecunia infinita]
  • source: Cicero, Philippics, V, II, 5
• “Indeed, all rules respecting it are obvious to common view; for who is ignorant that it is the first law in writing history, that the historian must not dare to tell any falsehood, and the next, that he must be bold enough to tell the whole truth? Also, that there must be no suspicion of partiality in his writings, or of personal animosity?”
  • latin: [Nam quis nescit primam esse historiae legem, ne quid falsi dicere audeat? Deinde ne quid veri non audeat? Ne quae suspicio gratiae sit in scribendo? Ne quae simultatis?]
  • description: knows as: “The first law for the historian is that he shall never dare utter an untruth. The second is that he shall suppress nothing that is true. Moreover, there shall be no suspicion of partiality in his writing, or of malice”.
  • source: Cicero, De Oratore, II.XV.62
• “Good for whom?”
  • latin: [Cui bono (fuerit)?]
  • description: Roman judge Lucius Cassius Longinus recommended using this question when examining the cases.
  • source: Cicero, Pro Milone, 12
• “Poets are born such, orators become such”
  • latin: [Poetae nascuntur, oratores fiunt]
  • source: Cicero, Pro Archia, 8
• “A room without books is like a body without a soul”
  • latin: [Postea vero quam Tyrannio mihi libros disposuit, mens addita videtur meis aedibus]
  • description: the sentence is known as the modern interpretation of Cicero’s text to Atticus: “Moreover, since Tyrannio has arranged my books for me, my house seems to have had a soul added to it”.
  • source: Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum, 4.8
• “A letter has no blushes”
  • latin: [Epistola (enim) non erubescit]
  • source: Cicero, Listy, 5, 12
• “Work hardens one against pain”
• “A friend is, as it were, a second self”
• “Friend is a second self”
  • latin: [Amicus est tamquam alter ego]
  • source: Cicero, Epistulae ad familiares, 7,5.1
• “I hear Socrates saying that the best seasoning for food is hunger; for drink, thirst”
  • latin: [Socratem audio dicentem, cibi condimentium essa famem, potionis sitim]
  • source: Cicero, De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum, II. 28
• “Our country ought to be dearer to us than ourselves”
  • latin: [Decet cariorem esse patriam nobis quam nosmet ipsos]
  • source: Cicero, De Finibus, 3.64
• “Habit is second nature”
  • latin: [Consuetudo (quasi) altera natura]
  • source: Cicero, De finibus, 5, 25, 74
• “Advice in old age is foolish; for what can be more absurd than to increase our provisions for the road the nearer we approach to our journey’s end”
• “From things to be carried old age draws away”
  • latin: [A rebus gerendis senectus abstrahit]
  • source: Cicero, Cato Maior De senectute, VI
• “Fear is not a long-term teacher of duty”
  • latin: [Timor, non diuturnus magister offici]
  • source: Cicero, Philippicae, 90.XXXVI
• “Philosophy is the art of life”
  • latin: [Ars est philosophia vitae]
  • source: Cicero, De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum, III 7, 26
• “Rich is the one who wishes no more than he has”
  • latin: [Dives est, cui tanta possesio est, ut nihil optet amplius]
  • source: Cicero, Paradoxa Stoicorum, 6
• “In time of war the Muses fall silent”
  • latin: [Inter arma silent Musae]
  • source: Cicero, Pro Milone, IV.11
• “W czasie wojny milczą prawa”
  • latin: [Inter arma enim silent leges]
  • description: later version of Cicero words.
  • source: Cicero, Pro Milone, IV.11
• “I see the wolf”
  • latin: [Video lupum]
• “With oars and sails”
  • latin: [Remis velisque]
  • description: with full speed.
  • source: Cicero, Tusculanae Disputationes, 3
• “Choose who you love”
• “Take the sun out of the universe when they deprive life of friendship, than which we have from the immortal gods no better, no more delightful boon”
  • latin: [Solem enim e mundo tollere videntur, qui amicitiam e vita tollunt, qua nihil a dis immortalibus melius habemus, nihil iucundius]
  • source: Cicero, De Amicitia, 47
• “To kindle one fire by another”
  • latin: [Ab igne ignem]
  • source: Cicero, De officiis, 52
• “Fight for altars and homes”
• “The crux (or puzzle) of critics”
  • latin: [Crux criticorum]
  • source: Cicero, Pro milone, 12
• “Life is brief, glory everlasting”
  • latin: [Vitae brevis cursus, gloriae sempiternus]
  • source: Cicero, Pro Sestius, 21.47
• “To live is to think”
  • latin: [Vivere est cogitare]
  • source: Cicero, Tusculanae Disputationes, 5.38.112
• “They have lived”
  • latin: [Vixere]
  • description: with this word, Cicero decided on execution of the conspirators who were accused of participating in the famous conspiracy of Catiline. What is more, those words used superstitious Romans to prevent an unfortunate calling of death at meetings.
  • source: Plutarch, Cicero, 22.2
• “If you have a garden and a library you have everything you need”
  • latin: [Si hortum in bibliotheca habes, nihil deerit]
  • description: Cicero in a letter to a friend Varro states that this is enough for a successful meeting.
  • source: Cicero, Fam. 9.1

Quotes of Cicero

Gaius Julius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar

(Gaius Iulius Caesar, 100-44 BCE) – politician, general, dictator and writer:

• “It is not the custom of the Roman people to discuss terms with an enemy under arms”
  • latin: [Non esse consuetudinem populi Romani accipere ab hoste armato condicionem: ]
  • source: Gaius Julius Caesar,Commentarii de bello Gallico, 5.41
• “As a general rule, it is unseen terrors which have the most powerful effect on men’s minds”
  • latin: [Omnia enim plerumque quae absunt vehementius hominum mentes perturbant]
  • source: Gaius Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello Gallico, VII.84
• “It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience”
  • latin: [Qui se ultro morti offerant facilius reperiuntur quam qui dolorem patienter ferant]
  • source: Juliusz Cezar, Commentarii de bello Gallico, VII.77
• “Do you not think it is matter for sorrow that while Alexander, at my age, was already king of so many peoples, I have as yet achieved no brilliant success?”
  • description: written in Greek.
  • source: Plutarch, Caesar, 11
• “Gaul is a whole divided into three parts”
  • latin: [Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres]
  • source: Gaius Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello Gallico
• “Even you, Brutus?”
  • description: those words are Shakespeare’s invention. In fact, he was supposed to say, “You too, child?”
  • latin: [Et tu, Brute?]
  • source: William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, III, 1
• “The die has been cast”
  • latin: [Alea iacta est]
  • description: Menander’s poem allegedly repeated by Caesar when crossing the Rubicon. Caesar was to say these words in Greek.
  • source: Suetonius, Julius Caesar, 32
• “Robberies which are committed beyond the boundaries of each state bear no infamy, and they avow that these are committed for the purpose of disciplining their youth and of preventing sloth”
  • latin: [Latrocinia nullam habent infamiam, quae extra fines cuiusque civitatis fiunt, atque ea iuventutis exercendae ac desidiae minuendae causa fieri praedicant]
  • description: about Germans, emphasizing their bad nature.
  • source: Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico, VI.23
• “I have you, Africa”
  • latin: [Teneo te, Africa]
  • description: Caesar’s words as he rolled over in front of his soldiers as he stepped off the ship off the coast of Africa.
  • source: Suetonius, Life of Julius Caesar, 59
• “My wife should be as much free from suspicion of a crime as she is from a crime itself”
  • latin: [Quoniam meos tam suspicione quam crimine iudico carere oportere]
  • description: in this way, Julius Caesar justified the dismissal of his wife, Pompeia. Caesar believed that she was compromised by Publius Clodius, who in disguise got to her house on the day of the Good Goddess, reserved only for women. Used also in form: “Because my family should not only be free from guilt, but even from the suspicion of it”.
  • source: Suetonius, Life of Julius Caesar, 74
• “I am not much in fear of these fat, long-haired fellows, but rather of those pale, thin ones”
  • description: about Cassius and Brutus plotting against him. Written in Greek.
  • source: Plutarch, Caesar, 62
• “From a common infirmity of human nature, that we are more flushed with confidence, or more vehemently alarmed at things unseen, concealed, and unknown, as was the case then”
  • latin: [Communi fit vitio naturae, ut invistatis atque incognitis magis confidamus vehementiusque exterreamur]
  • source: Gaius Julius Caesar, Commentarii belli civilis II, 2.4
• “I came; I saw; I conquered”
  • latin: [Veni, vidi, vici!]
  • description: during his triumph over Pontus, he had an inscription bearing these words carried before him. In this way, Caesar referred to his rapid victory over the king of Pontus Farnaces at Zela.
  • source: Suetonius, Caesar 37
• “In the end, it is impossible not to become what others believe you are”
  • description: no reliable source.
• “What we wish, we readily believe, and what we ourselves think, we imagine others think also”
  • latin: [Quae volumus, ea credimus libenter, at quae sentimus ipsi, reliquos sentire speramus]
  • source: Gaius Julius Caesar, Commentarii belli civilis II, 27.2
• “You carry Caesar and Caesar’s fortune”
  • latin: [Caesarem vehis, Caesarisque fortunam]
  • description: words to captain of the boat.
  • source: Plutarch, Caesar 38, 3
• “I would rather be the first man here than the second man in Rome”
  • description: about a small Alpine town. Written in Greek.
  • source: Plutarch, Caesar, 11
• “I love treason but hate a traitor”
  • description: written in Greek.
  • source: Plutarch, Romulus, 17

Quotes of Julius Caesar

Cornelius Nepos

(Cornelius Nepos, 100 – 24 BCE) – Roman historian and biographer:

• “The mother of a cautious person is not accustomed to weep”
  • latin: [Neque sine causa dici matrem timidi flere non solere]
  • source: Cornelius Nepos, Thrasybulus, 2
• “No government is safe unless fortified by goodwill”
  • latin: [Nullum imperium tutum, nisi benevolentia munitum]
  • description: about death of Titus Pomponius Atticus.
  • source: Cornelius Nepos, Dion, 5
• “So that he seemed to depart not from life, but from one home to another”
  • latin: [Ut non ex vita, sed ex domo in domum videretur migrare]
  • source: Cornelius Nepos, Atticus, 22
• “Peace is obtained by war”
  • latin: [Nam paritur pax bello]
  • source: Cornelius Nepos, Epaminondas, 5
• “Hateful is the power, and pitiable is the life, of those who wish to be feared rather than loved”
  • latin: [Quam invisa sit singularis potentia et miseranda vita qui se metui quam amari malunt]
  • source: Cornelius Nepos, Dion, 9

Lucretius

Lucretius

(Titus Lucretius Carus, 99 – 55 BCE) – poet and philosopher:

• “Study the man when he is most beset
  with perils, and when fortune frowns on him.
  Then you will learn what he is; then the heart
  will deeply feel, and utter words of truth.
  The mask is torn away, the man’s revealed”
  • latin: [Quo magis in dubiis hominem spectare periclis
    convenit adversisque in rebus noscere qui sit;
    nam verae voces tum demum pectore ab imo
    eliciuntur [et] eripitur persona manet res]
  • source: Lucretius, De rerum natura, III.55
• “Life isn’t given to anyone, but just given on loan to everyone”
  • latin: [Vitaque mancipio nulli datur, omnibus usu]
  • source: Lucretius, De rerum natura, III, 971
• “For just as children tremble and fear all
  In the viewless dark, so even we at times
  Dread in the light so many things that be
  No whit more fearsome than what children feign,
  Shuddering, will be upon them in the dark.”
  • source: Lucretius, De rerum natura, III
• “Nothing arises from nothing”
  • latin: [Ex nihilo nihil fit]
  • source: Lucretius, De rerum natura, I
• “Some nations rise, others diminish […] and like runners carry on the torch of life”
  • latin: [Augescunt aliae gentes aliae minuuntur […] et quasi cursores vitai lampada tradunt]
  • source: Lucretius, De rerum natura, II, 77/79
• “From the bottom of the chest”
  • latin: [Ab imo pectore]
  • source: Lucretius, De rerum natura, 1.148–156
• “Nothing comes from nothing”
  • latin: [De nihilo nihil]
  • description: the maxim attributed to the Greek philosopher Parmenides. A reference to cosmology that existence is eternal, has no beginning and no end, and is the only one.
  • source: Lucretius, De rerum natura, 3.57
• “Golden sayings”
  • latin: [Aurea dicta]
  • description: this is how the poet describes his teacher’s words.
  • source: Lucretius, De rerum natura, III, 12

Quotes of Lucretius

Cato the Younger

(Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis, 95 – 46 BCE) – Roman politician and stoic philosopher, living in accordance with integrity:

• “Now, I am master of myself”
  • description: before suicide. Senator Cato the Younger, after the siege of Carthage by Caesar, committed suicide, sticking the dagger in the chest and tearing the wound with his own hands. Apparently, Cato did not want to witness the fall of the republic. The words were given in the source, written in Greek.
  • source: Plutarch, Cato the Younger, 70
• “If you live properly, don’t worry about what the evil ones say”
  • latin: [Cum recte vivis, ne cures verba malorum]
• “I would not be beholden to a tyrant, for his acts of tyranny. For it is but usurpation in him to save, as their rightful lord, the lives of men over whom he has no title to reign”
  • descritpion: instructing Lucius Caesar, after the defeat at Tapsus. Words given in Greek.
  • source: Plutarch, Cato the Younger, 66
• “I begin to speak only when I’m certain what I’ll say isn’t better left unsaid”
  • descritpion: Cato’s response to the accusation that he did not present his speeches to others at a young age. Words given in Greek.
  • source: Plutarch, Cato the Elder, 4

Quotes of Cato the Younger

Sallust

Sallust

Sallust (Gaius Sallustius Crispus, 86 – 35 BCE) – historian and writer:

• “Small communities grow great through harmony, great ones fall to pieces through discord”
• “Necessity makes even the timid brave”
  • latin: [Necessitas etiam timidos fortes facit]
  • source: Sallust, Bellum Catilinae, 52
• “[People] hold one thing hidden in the heart, and the opposite thing at the tip of one’s tongue”
  • latin: [Aliud clausum in pectore, aliud in lingua promptum habent]
  • source: Sallust, Bellum Catilinae, 10
• “Such proceedings [Citizens’ disagreement] have often ruined powerful states”
  • latin: [Discordia civium plerumque magnas civitates pessumdedit]
  • source: Sallust, Bellum Jugurthinum, 42
• “To like and dislike the same things, this is what makes a solid friendship”
  • latin: [Nam idem velle atque idem nolle, ea demum firma amicitia est]
  • source: Sallust, Bellum Catilinae, 20
• “Covetous of the property of others and prodigal of his own”
  • latin: [Alieni appetens, sui profusus]
  • source: Sallust, Bellum Catilinae, 5
• “Plenty of eloquence, not enough wisdom”
  • latin: [Satis eloquentiae, sapientiae parum]
  • description: about Catiline
  • source: Sallust, Bellum Catilinae, 5
• “For the fame of riches and beauty is fickle and frail, while virtue is eternally excellent”
  • latin: [Nam divitiarum et formae gloria fluxa atque fragilis est, virtus clara aeternaque habetur]
  • source: Sallust, Bellum Catilinae, 1
• “All our power lies in both mind and body; we employ the mind to rule, the body rather to serve; the one we have in common with the Gods, the other with the brutes”
  • latin: [Sed nostra omnis vis in animo et corpore sita est; animi imperio, corporis servitio magis utimur; alterum nobis cum dis, alterum cum beluis commune est]
  • source: Sallust, Bellum Catilinae, 1
• “But when sloth has introduced itself in the place of industry, and covetousness and pride in that of moderation and equity, the condition of a state is altered together with its morals; and thus authority is always transferred from the less to the more deserving”
  • latin: [Verum ubi pro labore desidia, pro continentia et aequitate libido atque superbia invasere, fortuna simul cum moribus immutatur. Ita imperium semper ad optimum quemque a minus bono transfertur]
  • source: Sallust, Bellum Catilinae, 2

Quotes of Sallust

Marcus Junius Brutus

Marcus Junius Brutus

(Marcus Iunius Brutus, 85 – 42 BCE) – politician:

• “Thus always to tyrants”
  • latin: [Sic semper tyrannis!]
  • descriiption: it is often believed that these words were first spoken by Marcus Junius Brutus after the murder of Julius Caesar. According to Plutarch Brutus was not able to say anything, as after the assassination senators ran away from the Senate.
• “The Xanthians, suspecting my kindness, have made their country the grave of their despair; the Patareans, trusting themselves to me, enjoy in all points their former liberty; it is in your power to choose the judgment of the Patareans or the fortune of the Xanthians”
  • description: words in Greek.
  • source: Plutarch, Brutus, 2

Catullus

Catullus

(Gaius Valerius Catullus, 84 – 54 BCE) – poet:

• “Thus the virgin, as long as she remains intact, so long she is dear to her people”
  • latin: [Sic virgo, dum intacta manet, dum cara suis est]
  • source: Catullus, Poem 62
• “Nothing is more silly than a silly smile”
  • latin: [Risu inepto res ineptior nulla est]
  • source: Catullus, Poem 39
• “I hate, I love”
  • latin: [Odi et amo]
  • source: Catullus, Poem 85
• “Hail and farewell”
  • latin: [Ave atque vale]
  • source: Catullus, Poem 101

Virgil

Virgil

(Publius Vergilius Maro, 70 – 19 BCE) – poet:

• “Woman is ever a fickle and changeable thing”
  • latin: [Varium et mutabile semper femina]
  • source: Virgil, Aeneid, IV, 569-570
• “Time flies”
  • latin: [Tempus fugit]
  • source: Virgil, Georgics, III, 284
• “The one safety for the vanquished is to abandon hope of safety”
  • latin: [Una salus victis, nullam sperare salutem]
  • source: Virgil, Aeneid, II 354
• “Everyone is dragged on by their favorite pleasure”
  • latin: [Trahit sua quemque voluptas]
  • source: Virgil, Eclogue II 65
• “Love is the same in all”
  • latin: [Amor omnibus idem]
  • source: Virgil, Georgics, III
• “Love conquers all things”
  • latin: [Amor vincit omnia]
  • source: Virgil, Eclogue, X
• “May you arise (as) an avenger from our bones!”
  • latin: [Exoriare aliquis nostris ex ossibus ultor]
  • source: Virgil, Aeneid, IV, 625
• “Spare the vanquished and subdue the proud”
  • latin: [Parcere subiectis et debellare superbos]
  • source: Virgil, Aeneid, VI, 847-853
• “Rumor grows as it goes (Virgil)”
  • latin: [Fama crescit eundo]
  • source: Virgil, Aeneid, IV, 175
• “Work conquers all”
  • latin: [Labor omnia vincit]
  • source: Virgil, Georgics, I, 145-146
• “Fortunate is he, who is able to know the causes of things”
  • latin: [Felix, qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas]
  • source: Virgil, Georgics, II, 5.490
• “You, O Roman, govern the nations with your power- remember this! These will be your arts – to impose the ways of peace, To show mercy to the conquered and to subdue the proud”
  • latin: [Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento; hae tibi erunt artes; pacisque imponere morem, parcere subiectis, et debellare superbos]
  • source: Virgil, Aeneid, 851–853
• “Trust in one experienced”
  • latin: [Experto credite]
  • source: Virgil, Aeneid, XI.283

Quotes of Virgil

Publilius Syrus

(Publilius Syrus, 1st century BCE) – Roman mime and writer:

• “It is a sad victory for the one who regrets having won**”
  • latin: [Male vincit is, quem paenitet victoriae]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Those who think they will live forever live badly**”
  • latin: [Male vivunt, qui se semper victuros putant]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Especially the ungrateful teach us avarice**”
  • latin: [Malignos fieri maxime ingrati docent]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The iniquity of one person quickly becomes the curse of all**”
  • latin: [Malitia unius cito fit male dictum omnium]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Iniquity pretends to be good to make it worse**”
  • latin: [Malitia, ut peior veniat, se simulat bonam]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The bad man has hidden teeth**”
  • latin: [Malivolus animus abditos dentes habet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A wicked man always feeds on his nature**”
  • latin: [Malivolus semper sua natura vescitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Also spare the evil one, if the good one may die with it**”
  • latin: [Malo etiam parcas, si una est periturus bonus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Women conquer men by their cunning**”
  • latin: [Malo in consilio feminae vincunt viros]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Bad advice is also worst for the giver**”
  • latin: [Malum consilium consultori pessimum est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “An evil plan is one that cannot be changed**”
  • latin: [Malum est consilium, quod mutari non potest]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “An evil man secretly thinks even worse**”
  • latin: [Malus animus in secreto peius cogitat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A bad man never takes good advice to himself**”
  • latin: [Malus bonum ad se nunquam consilium refert]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who only minds his own business should be judged a bad person**”
  • latin: [Malus est vocandus, qui sua est causa bonus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “An evil man, even if he cannot harm, thinks how he can harm**”
  • latin: [Malus etsi obesse non potest, tamen cogitat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Punishment for the bad is defense for the good**”
  • latin: [Malus quicumque in poena est, praesidium est bonis]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A bad person is worst when he pretends to be good**”
  • latin: [Malus, bonum ubi se simulat, tunc est pessimus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The obvious case contains the decision**”
  • latin: [Manifesta causa secum habet sententiam]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The meek are more secure, but they live as slaves**”
  • latin: [Mansueta tutiora sunt, sed serviunt]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who pleases many should beware of great danger**”
  • latin: [Maximo periclo custoditur, quod multis placet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Equanimity is the cure for failure**”
  • latin: [Medicina calamitatis est aequanimitas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Intemperance is the breadwinner of physicians**”
  • latin: [Medicorum nutrix est intemperantia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The harlot is an instrument of disgrace**”
  • latin: [Meretrix est instrumentum contumeliae]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “You should always beware if you want to be safe**”
  • latin: [Metuendum est semper esse cum tutus velis]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whatever brings you joy ignores lurking fears**”
  • latin: [Metum respicere non solet quicquid iuvat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “When fear comes, sleep rarely comes**”
  • latin: [Metus cum venit, rarum habet somnus locum]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Fear, not gentleness, holds back the wicked**”
  • latin: [Metus improbos compescit, non clementia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Fate, when it has given very little, can take little away**”
  • latin: [Minimum eripit Fortuna, cui minimum dedit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who is quickly refused is less disappointed**”
  • latin: [Minus decipitur, cui negatur celeriter]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “An owner who fears slaves is worth less than the slave himself**”
  • latin: [Minus est quam servus dominus, qui servos timet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “You are often less wrong if you know what you don’t know**”
  • latin: [Minus saepe pecces, si scias quid nescias]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It’s a small pleasure that comes with memories of danger**”
  • latin: [Misera est voluptas, ubi pericli memoria est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To know poverty is to live safely**”
  • latin: [Misereri scire sine periclo est vivere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A merciful citizen is a consolation for the fatherland**”
  • latin: [Misericors civis patriae est consolatio]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A fortune that has no enemy is very poor**”
  • latin: [Miserrima est Fortuna, quae inimico caret]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The worst thing is to live under someone else’s will**”
  • latin: [Miserrimum est arbitrio alterius vivere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It’s sad to be silent about what you want to say**”
  • latin: [Miserum est takere cogi, quod cupias loqui]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Stupidity should be encouraged, not punished**”
  • latin: [Monere, non punire, stultitiam decet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Delay in making decisions is diligence**”
  • latin: [Mora cogitationis diligentia est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Any delay is frowned upon, but it teaches wisdom**”
  • latin: [Mora omnis odio est, sed facit sapientiam]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To die before death is called is to die happily**”
  • latin: [Mori est felicis, antequam mortem invoces]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “You must die, but not if you want to die**”
  • latin: [Mori necesse est, sed non quotiens volueris]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Death is happy for children, bitter for the young, too late for the elderly**”
  • latin: [Mors infanti felix, iuveni acerba, nimis sera est seni]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “If you despise death, you will conquer all fear**”
  • latin: [Mortem ubi contemnas, viceris omnes metus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whoever gave to the dead gave nothing to him, but took away from himself**”
  • latin: [Mortuo qui mittit munus, nil dat illi, adimit sibi]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A woman’s tears are the spice of evil deeds**”
  • latin: [Muliebris lacrima condimentum est malitiae]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A woman thinks badly when she thinks for herself**”
  • latin: [Mulier cum sola cogitat, male cogitat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A woman who marries many times is not well regarded by many**”
  • latin: [Mulier quae multis nubit, multis non placet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Try many times until you find a good man**”
  • latin: [Multa ante temptes, quam virum invenias bonum]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The mighty, forgiving much, becomes more powerful**”
  • latin: [Multa ignoscendo fit potens potentior]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whoever commits lawlessness against one person may be dangerous to many**”
  • latin: [Multis minatur, qui uni facit iniuriam]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A woman who wants to please many wants her doom**”
  • latin: [Multis placere quae cupit, culpam cupit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “More shamefully he is damned who is pardoned at the time of his transgression**”
  • latin: [Multo turpius damnatur cui in delicto ignoscitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The misfortune of many is the death of a good man**”
  • latin: [Multorum calamitate vir moritur bonus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Many should be feared by many who are feared**”
  • latin: [Multos timere debit, quem multi timent]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The harlot is kind not to your tears but to your gifts**”
  • latin: [Muneribus est, non lacrimis, meretrix misericors]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “What you cannot change, take as is**”
  • latin: [Mutare quod non possis, ut natum est, feras]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Good changes when provoked by lawlessness**”
  • latin: [Mutat se bonitas irritata iniuria]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “When the wicked does good, it means that he hides his true nature**”
  • latin: [Naturam abscondit, cum improbus recte facit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “No one can escape either death or love**”
  • latin: [Nec mortem effugere quisquam nec amorem potest]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Neither life nor happiness are given to people as their own**”
  • latin: [Nec vita nec Fortuna propria est hominibus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is necessary that the greatest things should have very small beginnings**”
  • latin: [Necesse est minima maximorum esse initia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Necessity gets from man what it wants**”
  • latin: [Necessitas ab homine quae vult impetrat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Necessity makes law, it does not recognize it**”
  • latin: [Necessitas dat legem, non ipsa accipit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Necessity compels the poor to lie**”
  • latin: [Necessitas egentem mendacem facit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “How persevering is the reign of necessity!**”
  • latin: [Necessitas quam pertinax regnum tenet!]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is in vain to seek what necessity hides**”
  • latin: [Necessitas quod celat, frustra quaeritur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Necessity, when it expects something, will snatch it from you by force if you don’t give it willingly**”
  • latin: [Necessitas quod poscit, nisi des, eripit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Necessity must be endured without complaint**”
  • latin: [Necessitatem ferre, non flere, addecet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “In the face of necessity, any weapon is good**”
  • latin: [Necessitati quodlibet telum utile est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The wise never deny necessity**”
  • latin: [Necessitati sapiens nihil unquam negat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A miser will never run out of reasons to say no**”
  • latin: [Negandi causa avaro nunquam deficit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who asks for what is difficult denies himself**”
  • latin: [Negat sibi ipse qui quod difficile est petit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Neither quickly accuse anyone nor quickly praise anyone**”
  • latin: [Neminem cito accusaveris neminem cito laudaveris]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “No one dies prematurely who dies in poverty**”
  • latin: [Nemo immature moritur, qui moritur miser]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “No one can be a judge in his own cause**”
  • latin: [Nemo iudex in sua causa potest]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “No one overcomes fear will achieve the highest goals**”
  • latin: [Nemo timendo ad summum pervenit locum]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “You never know what you want or what you’re running from: that’s how it plays with us every day**”
  • latin: [Nescias quid optes aut quid fugias: ita ludit dies]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “I don’t know what the bad man’s intentions are when he imitates the good**”
  • latin: [Nescio quid agitat, cum bonum imitatur malus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “No highest peak is safe unless successive degrees are observed**”
  • latin: [Ni gradus servetur, nulli tutus est summus locus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He has no fear of deceit who does not know how to do it**”
  • latin: [Ni qui scit facere, insidias nescit metuere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “For the unhappy, doing nothing is always the best solution**”
  • latin: [Nihil agere semper infelici est optimum]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Necessity knows no other way than victory**”
  • latin: [Nihil aliud scit necessitas, quam vincere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “There is nothing sadder when there is shame for what you have done**”
  • latin: [Nihil est miserius, quam ubi pudet quod feceris]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Lust desires nothing more than forbidden things**”
  • latin: [Nihil magis amat cupiditas, quam quod non licet]
  • source: Publiliusz Syrus, Sententiae
• “There is nothing mature that wasn’t immature before**”
  • latin: [Nihil non acerbum prius quam maturaum fuit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A long time will either heal or soothe everything**”
  • latin: [Nihil non aut lenit aut domat diuturnitas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Eyes never wander when reason commands them**”
  • latin: [Nihil peccant oculi, si animus oculis imperat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “What you promised matters little if you don’t deliver later**”
  • latin: [Nihil prodest didicisse bene facere si cesses]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “What can be changed, never take it as your own**”
  • latin: [Nihil proprium ducas, quicquid mutari potest]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “You don’t do anything wrong when you’re looking for a way to save yourself**”
  • latin: [Nihil turpe ducas pro salutis remedio]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Too submissive sometimes breeds stupidity**”
  • latin: [Nimia concedendo interdum fit stultitia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “In too heated arguments the truth is lost**”
  • latin: [Nimium altercando veritas amittitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Death, if it does not bring misfortune, can also be good**”
  • latin: [Nimium boni est in morte, cum nihil est mali]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A string usually breaks if it is stretched too much**”
  • latin: [Nimium tendendo rumpi funiculus solet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “If you do not understand yourself, you will listen to the wise in vain**”
  • latin: [Nisi per te sapias, frustra sapientem audias]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “If you do not punish transgressions, you reward wickedness**”
  • latin: [Nisi vindices delicta, improbitatem adiuves]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The guilty pleads, the innocent is indignant**”
  • latin: [Nocens precatur, innocens irascitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who defends the wrongdoer takes the blame upon himself**”
  • latin: [Nocentem qui defendit, sibi crimen parit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Chance cannot harm constancy**”
  • latin: [Nocere casus non solet constantiae]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To be able to do harm and not want to do it is commendable in the highest degree**”
  • latin: [Nocere posse et nolle laus amplissima est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Do not underestimate the things that lead to greatness**”
  • latin: [Noli contemnere ea, quae summos sublevant]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who fears a fissure will not soon fall into ruin**”
  • latin: [Non cito ruina obteritur, qui rimam timet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who directs someone against his will does not make him better, but worse**”
  • latin: [Non corrigit, sed laedit, qui invitum regit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He is not happy who does not believe he is happy**”
  • latin: [Non est beatus, esse se qui non putat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Being better is no good for the worst**”
  • latin: [Non est bonitas esse meliorem pessimo]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is not easy to attribute a crime to an innocent**”
  • latin: [Non facile de innocente crimen fingitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It’s not easy to keep to yourself what many people like**”
  • latin: [Non facile solus serves, quod multis placet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He is greatly benefited who quickly refuses**”
  • latin: [Non leve beneficium praestat qui breviter negat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Fortitude knows no concession to misfortune**”
  • latin: [Non novit virtus calamitati cedere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He is not unreasonable who knows he is stupid**”
  • latin: [Non pote non sapere, qui se sultum intellegit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Luck does not always have an open ear to requests**”
  • latin: [Non semper aurem facilem felicitas habet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “There is no disfiguring scar that is the result of bravery**”
  • latin: [Non turpis est cicatrix, quam virtus parit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He is not vanquished, but he is victorious who gives way to his nearest**”
  • latin: [Non vincitur, sed vincit, qui cedit suis]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “There is no greater punishment for a man than misfortune**”
  • latin: [Nulla hominum maior poena est quam infelicitas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Fate is never so good that you can’t complain**”
  • latin: [Nulla tam bona est Fortuna, de qua nihil possis queri]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “There is nothing easier for a bad guy than to find one like him**”
  • latin: [Nulli facilius quam malo invenies parem]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Mercy is not frowned upon anywhere**”
  • latin: [Nullo in loco male audit misericordia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The surest income is the one you save**”
  • latin: [Nullus est tam tutus quaestus, quam quod habeas parcere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who thinks what he fears is always unhappy**”
  • latin: [Nunquam non miser est, qui quod timeat cogitat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Danger can never be conquered without danger**”
  • latin: [Nunquam periclum sine periclo vincitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Smoke is never lacking where a fire has long burned**”
  • latin: [Nunquam, ubi diu fuit ignis defecit vapor]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Nowhere is it easier to hide guilt than in a crowd**”
  • latin: [Nusquam facilius culpa quam in turba latet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “We humans will die nowhere better than where we have lived happily**”
  • latin: [Nusquam melius morimur homines, quam ubi libenter viximus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “What a sweet bitterness it is when joy is repulsed**”
  • latin: [O dulce tormentum, ubi reprimitur gaudium !]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The worst danger is the one that remains hidden**”
  • latin: [About pessimum periclum, quod opertum latet !]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Conscience is a silent torture!**”
  • latin: [O tacitum tormentum animi conscientia!]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “O life! Long for the unhappy, short for the happy**”
  • latin: [O vita misero longa, felici brevis!]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To be reviled in misfortune is worse than misfortune itself**”
  • latin: [Obiurgari in calamitate gravius est quam calamitas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The duties of the wife quickly become an abhorrence to the concubine**”
  • latin: [Obsequium nuptae cito fit odium paelicis]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Opportunity is hard to find, easy to lose**”
  • latin: [Occasio aegre offertur, facile amittitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A lost opportunity hard to come back**”
  • latin: [Occasio receptus difficiles habet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Death is beautiful when you have been in shameful captivity**”
  • latin: [Occidi est pulchrum, ignominiose ubi servias]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Love gently ignites in the eyes and completes in the arms**”
  • latin: [Oculi occulte amorem incipiunt, consuetudo perficit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The duty of kindness has no end**”
  • latin: [Officium benivoli animi finem non habet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “All in peace of mind obey where worthy rule**”
  • latin: [Omnes aequo animo parent, ubi digni imperant]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Those who sin secretly sin more securely**”
  • latin: [Omnes, cum occulte peccant, peccant tutius]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Any pleasure that is attractive to anyone is harmful**”
  • latin: [Omnis voluptas, quemcumque arrisit, nocet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A benefit is well done when it is remembered by the one who received it**”
  • latin: [Optime positum est beneficium, bene ubi meminit qui accipit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The best thing is to follow in the footsteps of your ancestors if they show you the right way**”
  • latin: [Optimum est maiorum vestigia se quis recte praecesserint]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Prepared tears indicate deception, not regret**”
  • latin: [Paratae lacrimae insidias, non flutum, indicator]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “An angry father is cruelest to himself**”
  • latin: [Parens iratus in se est crudelissimus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “If you politely decline, you are partially benefiting the requester**”
  • latin: [Pars benefici est, quod petitur si belle neges]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Suffering much, one reaches a state where one cannot suffer any longer**”
  • latin: [Patiendo multa venient, quae nequeas pati]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Patient and strong make themselves happy**”
  • latin: [Patiens et fortis se ipsum felicem facit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Peace of soul has hidden wealth**”
  • latin: [Patientia animi occultas divitias habet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Few understand the gifts received from God**”
  • latin: [Paucorum est intellegere, quid donet deus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The wickedness of the few is the defeat of the many**”
  • latin: [Paucorum improbitas est multorum calamitas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Few don’t want to sin, but everyone knows how**”
  • latin: [Peccare pauci nolunt, nulli nesciunt]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “You do the right thing when you take your friend’s mistakes as your own**”
  • latin: [Peccatum amici veluti tuum recte putes]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who quickly corrects himself diminishes his sin**”
  • latin: [Peccatum extenuat, qui celeriter corrigit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The only ruler of the world is money**”
  • latin: [Pecunia regiment est unum rerum omnium]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The silent pain of thinking of many worse things**”
  • latin: [Peiora multo cogitat mutus dolor]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Always think about what will keep you safe**”
  • latin: [Per quae sis tutus, illa semper cogites]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To the one who made you famous, show that you deserve it**”
  • latin: [Per quem sis clarus, illi quod sis imputes]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Only poverty puts an end to waste**”
  • latin: [Perdendi finem nemo nisi egestas facit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Better to lose honest money than to receive dishonest**”
  • latin: [Perdidisse ad assem mallem, quam accepisse turpiter]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “If the recipient doesn’t remember the gift, then the giver didn’t give it but wasted it**”
  • latin: [Perdit, non donat, qui dat, nisi sit memoria]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Not an actual union, but the will creates a lasting marriage**”
  • latin: [Perenne coniugium animus, non corpus, facit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To know the time of your death is to die at any moment**”
  • latin: [Pereundi scire tempus assidue est mori]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is easy for a happy person to do what his desires dictate**”
  • latin: [Perfacile quod vota imperant felix facit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To resort to a subordinate is to put oneself in one’s own hands**”
  • latin: [Perfugere ad inferiorem, se ipsum est tradere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The brave overcomes dangers before they appear**”
  • latin: [Pericla qui audet ante vincit quam aspicit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The fearful sees danger even where there is none**”
  • latin: [Pericla timidus, etiam quae non sunt, videt]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who keeps his cool always wins**”
  • latin: [Perpetuo vincit, qui utitur clementia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “More friends win your table than your wits**”
  • latin: [Plures amicos mensa quam mens concipit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Fate protects the many rather than makes them safe**”
  • latin: [Plures tegit Fortuna, quam tutos facit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To be defeated by lawlessness is worse than punishment**”
  • latin: [Plus est quam poena iniuriae succumbere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Living without hope for the poor is more than a punishment**”
  • latin: [Plus est quam poena sine spe miserum vivere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The punishment crawls to the villain and comes to achieve her goal**”
  • latin: [Poena ad malum serpens, iam cum properat, venit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The punishment becomes lighter when the pain subsides**”
  • latin: [Poena allevatur, ubi relaxatur dolor]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Punishment is sufficient for the offender when he humbly asks for forgiveness**”
  • latin: [Poenae sat est, qui laesit, cum supplex venit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The villain postpones his punishment, but he will not escape it**”
  • latin: [Poenam moratur improbus, non praeterit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Everyone who is useful to the fatherland serves the nation**”
  • latin: [Populi est mancipium, quisquis patriae est utilis]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The memory of a defeat creates a new defeat**”
  • latin: [Post calamitatem memoria alia est calamitas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The merciful powerful is public happiness**”
  • latin: [Potens misericors publica est felicitas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To argue with a significant other is to look for danger for yourself**”
  • latin: [Potenti irasci sibi periclum est quaerere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “In adversity, luck never helps**”
  • latin: [Potest nulla esse in adversis felicitas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The vengeful one is always present, even when absent**”
  • latin: [Praesens est semper, absens qui se ulciscitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To sin for one’s master may also be a virtue**”
  • latin: [Pro dominis peccare etiam virtutis loco est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A pain that kills another pain acts as a medicine**”
  • latin: [Pro medicina est dolor, dolorem qui necat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “If you cover the misdeeds of an honest man, you also abuse the law**”
  • latin: [Probi delicta neglegens, leges teras]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whoever benefits a good man, partly receives it himself**”
  • latin: [Probo beneficium qui dat, ex parte accipit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A good name for an honest man is the greatest legacy**”
  • latin: [Probo bona fama maxima est hereditas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “An honest freedman is like an adopted son**”
  • latin: [Probus libertus sine natura est filius]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who would like to help but cannot, is like a miserable person**”
  • latin: [Prodesse qui vult nec potest, aeque est miser]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To rush to judge is to commit a crime**”
  • latin: [Properare in iudicando est crimen quaerere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “In peacetime, anticipate what will be advantageous in war**”
  • latin: [Prospicere in pace oportet, quod bellum iuvet]
  • source: Publiliusz Syrus, Sententiae
• “The wise will know enough by the expression on the face**”
  • latin: [Prudenti vultus etiam sermonis loco est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The wise get angry late and only once**”
  • latin: [Prudentis est irasci sero et semel]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The lost honor will never come back**”
  • latin: [Pudor dimissus nunquam redit in gratiam]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Shame is innate, it cannot be learned**”
  • latin: [Pudor doceri non potest, nasci potest]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whom not stopped by shame, cannot be broken by fear**”
  • latin: [Pudor si quem non flectit, non frangit timor]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who takes away the dignity of another loses his own**”
  • latin: [Pudorem alienum qui eripit, perdit suum]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Shame is a kind of bondage**”
  • latin: [Pudorem habere servitus quodammodo est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The withered rose is not to be looked for again**”
  • latin: [Quae deflorueritne iterum quaeratur rosa]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A finished friendship should not be started again**”
  • latin: [Quae desiit amicitia ne coepit quidem]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A woman who wants to be too beautiful refuses no one**”
  • latin: [Quae vult videri bella nimis, nulli negat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Happy is the one who has not encountered hatred in his life**”
  • latin: [Quam est felix vita quae sine odiis transiit!]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “How bad is he who blames others!**”
  • latin: [Quam malus est, culpam qui suam alterius facit!]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “How unhappy is he who dislikes compassion**”
  • latin: [Quam miser est, cui ingrata est misericordia!]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “How unhappy is he who cannot justify himself**”
  • latin: [Quam miser est, qui excusare sibi se non potest!]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is a very unfortunate aid that harms rather than supports!**”
  • latin: [Quam miserum auxilium est, ubi nocet quod sustinet!]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “How sad it is to be forced to humiliate someone you would like to save!**”
  • latin: [Quam miserum est cogi opprimere, quem salvum velis!]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “What a misfortune it is to want death and not be able to die!**”
  • latin: [Quam miserum est mortem cupere nec posse emori!]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “How pathetic to complain about what has been done well!**”
  • latin: [Quam miserum est, bene quod feceris factum queri!]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “What a misfortune it is when a vanquished evil is reborn!**”
  • latin: [Quam miserum est, cum se renovat consumptum malum!]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “How sad to lose what only a few can have!**”
  • latin: [Quam miserum est, id quod pauci habent, amittere!]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It’s sad when wisdom is conquered by chance!**”
  • latin: [Quam miserum est, ubi consilium casu vincitur!]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It’s sad when you’re taken prisoner by those who should protect you!**”
  • latin: [Quam miserum est, ubi te captant, qui defenderent!]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Sad are those duties that have no good effect!**”
  • latin: [Quam miserum officium est, quod successum non habet!]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who reprimands is unpleasant, but does no harm**”
  • latin: [Quamvis acerbus, qui coins, nulli nocet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “What is useful to you, you consider right, even if it is not**”
  • latin: [Quamvis non rectum, quod iuvat, rectum putes]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The more sin comes later, the more heinous it begins**”
  • latin: [Quanto serius peccatur, tanto incipitur turpius]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “What you can’t keep legally, keep it the wrong way**”
  • latin: [Quem bono tenere non potueris, contineas malo]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is wrong to also complain about the one you love**”
  • latin: [Quem diligas, etiam queri de ipso malum est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “You hate the one you love if you don’t correct him**”
  • latin: [Quem diligas, ni recte moneas, oderis]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whoever has been touched by a bad reputation will hardly regain his good name**”
  • latin: [Quem fama semel oppressit, vix restituitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whoever seeks unhappiness will easily find it**”
  • latin: [Quemcumque quaerit calamitas, facile invenit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who pretends well, hurts his enemy more quickly**”
  • latin: [Qui bene dissimulat, citius inimico nocet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who forgives the fault of one encourages many to wrong**”
  • latin: [Qui culpae ignoscit uni, suadet pluribus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who coaxes himself when he has been insulted will become wiser in time**”
  • latin: [Qui cum dolet blanditur, post tempus sapit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The debtor does not love the creditor’s threshold**”
  • latin: [Qui debet, limen creditoris non amat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whoever serves wisely shares in power**”
  • latin: [Qui docte servit, partem dominatus tenet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who kills the sleeping takes revenge on the absent**”
  • latin: [Qui dormientem necat, absentem ulciscitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who expects to be asked diminishes duty**”
  • latin: [Qui exspectat ut rogetur, officium levat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whoever doubts the truth will make a bad decision**”
  • latin: [Qui in vero dubitat, male agit, cum deliberat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who serves against his will becomes unhappy, but he continues to serve**”
  • latin: [Qui invitus servit, fit miser, servit tamen]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who keeps his promise achieves what he intends**”
  • latin: [Qui ius iurandum servat, quovis pervenit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Who is afraid of defeat, suffers it less often**”
  • latin: [Qui metuit calamitatem, rarius accipit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who wishes to have many friends will also find enemies**”
  • latin: [Qui numerosis studet amicis, is etiam inimicos ferat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who, given the opportunity, does no harm helps you**”
  • latin: [Qui obesse, cum potest, non vult, prodest tibi]
  • source: Publiliusz Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who fears every trap will fall into none**”
  • latin: [Qui omnes insidias timet, in nullas incidit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Who can hide a mistake, cannot escape a mistake**”
  • latin: [Qui pote celare vitium, vitium non fugit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whoever can reject advice should be aware of it**”
  • latin: [Qui pote consilium fugere, sapere idem potest]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who can harm is also afraid when he does no harm**”
  • latin: [Qui pote nocere, timetur, cum etiam non nocet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who can change feelings can also stop feeling**”
  • latin: [Qui pote transferre amorem, pote deponere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who speaks for the innocent is eloquent enough**”
  • latin: [Qui pro innocente dicit, satis est eloquens]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who accuses himself cannot be accused by another**”
  • latin: [Qui se ipse accusat, accusari non potest]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who boasts himself will quickly find a mocker**”
  • latin: [Qui se ipse laudat cito derisorem invenit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who lives only for himself is rightly considered dead by others**”
  • latin: [Qui sibimet vivit, aliis merito est mortuus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who fears his friend teaches him to be afraid too**”
  • latin: [Qui timet amicum, amicus ut timeat, docet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who fears a friend does not know what friendship means**”
  • latin: [Qui timet amicum, vim non novit nominis]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who hesitates in punishing increases the number of the wicked**”
  • latin: [Qui ulcisci dubitat, improbos plures facit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who comes to do harm always comes with consideration**”
  • latin: [Qui venit ut noceat, semper meditatus venit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whatever you give to a good man, you give partly to yourself**”
  • latin: [Quicquid bono concedas, des partem tibi]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whatever you undertake, think about what you want to achieve**”
  • latin: [Quicquid conaris, quo pervenias, cogites]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “What happens to valor becomes fame**”
  • latin: [Quicquid fit cum virtute, fit cum gloria]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whatever Fortuna embellishes is quickly disregarded**”
  • latin: [Quicquid Fortuna exornat, cito contemnitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whatever becomes highest in the future is born from the greatest depth**”
  • latin: [Quicquid futurum est summum, ab imo nascitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Anything you have beyond what is necessary is superfluous**”
  • latin: [Quicquid plus quam necesse est possideas, premit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “When you need to punish, any occasion is the best**”
  • latin: [Quicquid vindicandum est, omnis optima est occasio]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “What good is money if you can’t use it?**”
  • latin: [Quid tibi pecunia opus est, si uti non potes?]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Some men are implacable enemies, some are gentle friends**”
  • latin: [Quidam inimici graves sunt amici leves]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Who would know of misfortune if pain were mute?**”
  • latin: [Quis miserum sciret, verba nisi haberet dolor?]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whoever has learned to do harm will remember it when given the opportunity**”
  • latin: [Quisquis nocere didicit, meminit cum potest]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “How will you protect yourself from thinking one thing and saying another?**”
  • latin: [Quo caveas, cum animus aliud, verba aliud petunt?]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The defects of age pass with age**”
  • latin: [Quod aetas vitium posuit, aetas auferet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Fearful things go unnoticed if you ignore them**”
  • latin: [Quod est timendum, decipit, si neglegas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The wise man is attentive both to the future and to the present**”
  • latin: [Quod est venturum, sapiens ut praesens cavet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “What you think is fleeing often comes running towards you**”
  • latin: [Quod fugere credas, saepe solet occurrere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “What is taken from the wicked is given to the honest**”
  • latin: [Quod improbis eripitur, donatur probis]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It’s foolish to save if you don’t know who it’s for**”
  • latin: [Quod nescias cui serves, stultum est parcere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “You can search for what’s lost, but you can’t get it back**”
  • latin: [Quod periit quaeri pote, reprendi non potest]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Everyone, praising what he loves, commends himself**”
  • latin: [Quod quisque amat, laudando commendat sibi]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “What is always given to you ready-made is not always good for you**”
  • latin: [Quod semper est paratum, non semper iuvat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “What the old man says is considered wise advice**”
  • latin: [Quod senior loquitur, omnes consilium putant]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “What you fear will come sooner than you expect**”
  • latin: [Quod timeas citius quam quod speres evenit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “What is hard to achieve is more satisfying**”
  • latin: [Quod vix contingit, plus voluptatis parit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Desire thinks what it wants, not what is proper**”
  • latin: [Quod vult cupiditas cogitat, non quod decet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who is content with enough has what he wants**”
  • latin: [Quod vult, habet, qui velle quod satis est, potest]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whatever thing you hide, you bring fear upon yourself**”
  • latin: [Quodcumque celes, ipse tibi fias timor]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is robbery to take what you cannot return**”
  • latin: [Rapere est accipere, quod non possis reddere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “You don’t borrow, you steal what you take against your will**”
  • latin: [Rapere est, non petere, quicquid invito auferas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “What should be rare should be dear to you for a long time**”
  • latin: [Rarum esse oportet, quod diu carum velis]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Youth should be tamed with reason, not force**”
  • latin: [Ratione, non vi, vincenda adulescentia est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The one who settled the debt did not lose it**”
  • latin: [Reddit, non perdit, qui alienum solvere potest]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He reigns, not is subject, who does only what he wants**”
  • latin: [Regnat, non regitur, qui nihil nisi quod vult facit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Only anger profits from delay**”
  • latin: [Rei nulli prodest mora nisi iracundiae]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Seek protection against lightning is in vain**”
  • latin: [Remedium frustra est contra fulmen quaerere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The bigger the thing, the more treacherous it is**”
  • latin: [Res quanto est major, tanto est insidiosior]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Anger usually goes unnoticed**”
  • latin: [Respicere nihil consuevit iracundia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The innocent accused is afraid not of the witness but of fate**”
  • latin: [Reus innocens Fortunam, non testem timet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “I wouldn’t want to be king so I wouldn’t have to be cruel**”
  • latin: [Rex esse nolim, ut esse crudelis velim]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Winning does not abolish competition**”
  • latin: [Rivalitatem non amat victoria]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is better to obey those who ask you than those who command you**”
  • latin: [Roganti melius quam imperanti pareas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To ask for a favor is a kind of bondage**”
  • latin: [Rogare officium servitus quodammodo est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To embarrass a friend is to lose one**”
  • latin: [Ruborem amico excutere amicum est perdere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is often enough to pretend revenge than to deliver it**”
  • latin: [Saepe dissimulare quam ulcissi satius fuit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “By forgiving you often give room for injustice**”
  • latin: [Saepe ignoscendo das/des iniuriae locum]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Often the eyes and ears of the common people are false witnesses**”
  • latin: [Saepe oculi et aures vulgi testes sunt mali]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “I was more often sorry that I spoke, never that I remained silent**”
  • latin: [Saepius locutum numquam me tacuisse penitet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “You must eat a barrel of salt before you trust someone**”
  • latin: [Salis absumendus modius priusquam habeas fidem]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To save a man, one can commit lawlessness**”
  • latin: [Salutis causa bene fit homini iniuria]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is most sacred to remember what you owe to whom**”
  • latin: [Sanctissimum est meminisse, cui te debeas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Wisdom is a weapon against the whole world**”
  • latin: [Sapiens contra omnes arma fert, cum cogitat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The wise give lawlessness time to consider**”
  • latin: [Sapiens locum dat requiescendi iniuriae]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The sage, when he is silent, strongly denies**”
  • latin: [Sapiens, cum petitur, si tacet, graviter negat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who speaks truth is eloquent enough**”
  • latin: [Sat est disertus, pro quo loquitur veritas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Remembering a benefit is enough profit**”
  • latin: [Sat magna usura est pro beneficio memoria]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He is reasonably happy who can die whenever he wants**”
  • latin: [Satis est beatus, qui potest cum vult mori]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The enemy is enough to defeat, it is superfluous to slay him**”
  • latin: [Satis est superare inimicum, nimium est perdere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A judge who convicts the innocent condemns himself**”
  • latin: [Se damnat iudex, innocentem qui opprimit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Admonish friends discreetly, praise openly**”
  • latin: [Secreto admone amicos palam lauda]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “In poverty, confidence is great happiness**”
  • latin: [Secunda in paupertate Fortuna est fides]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The pain of a nursing mother is like the pain of a mother**”
  • latin: [Secundus est a matre nutricis dolor]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Citizens’ dissent is enemies’ opportunity**”
  • latin: [Seditio civium hostium est occasio]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Kindness always thinks she’s happy**”
  • latin: [Semper beatam se putat benignitas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “There is always a lack of prudence when urgent need arises**”
  • latin: [Semper consilium tunc deest, cum opus est maxime]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “An angry man always thinks he can do more than he can**”
  • latin: [Semper iratus plus se posse putat quam possit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The wise, being always careful, avoids misfortune**”
  • latin: [Semper metuendo sapiens evitat malum]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is always to be feared who may get angry**”
  • latin: [Semper metuendum, quicquid irasci potest]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Man is always more afraid of the unknown evil**”
  • latin: [Semper plus metuit animus ignotum malum]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Reason, not age, discovers wisdom**”
  • latin: [Sensus, non aetas invenit sapientiam]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is late to seek advice when danger has already arrived**”
  • latin: [Sero in periclis est consilium quaerere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “If you obey against your will, you are a slave, if voluntarily, a servant**”
  • latin: [Si invitus pares servus es si volens minister]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “If many (people) like your life, you shouldn’t like it**”
  • latin: [Si multis placerit vita tua tibi placere non poterit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “If you don’t want to live in fear, beware of everything**”
  • latin: [Si nihil velis timere, metuas omnia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Wickedness brings insult to itself**”
  • latin: [Sibi ipsa improbitas cogit fieri iniuriam]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who tramples the law deprives himself of the best aid**”
  • latin: [Sibi primum auxilium eripere est leges tollere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “If a person punishes himself, he is sorry for what he has done**”
  • latin: [Sibi supplicium ipse dat quem admissi paenitet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The wound of victory does not hurt**”
  • latin: [Sine dolore est vulnus, quod ferendum est cum victoria]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whoever supports a criminal becomes an accomplice**”
  • latin: [Socius fit culpae, qui nocentem sublevat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “In dangerous situations, boldness usually replaces prudence**”
  • latin: [Solet esse in dubiis pro consilio temeritas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Often one hour repays what took you many years**”
  • latin: [Solet hora, quod multi anni abstulerunt, reddere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Glory usually follows the path of work**”
  • latin: [Solet sequi laus, cum viam fecit labor]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Seeks solitude who wants to live with the innocent**”
  • latin: [Solitudinem quaerat qui vult cum innocentibus vivere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “When a man feels shame, there is hope for improvement**”
  • latin: [Spes est salutis, ubi hominem obiurgate powder]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Hope comforts the poor, money comforts the stingy, death the unfortunate**”
  • latin: [Spes inopem, res avarum, walrus miserum levat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Also a thorn is nice when a rose appears**”
  • latin: [Spina etiam grata est, ex qua spectatur rosa]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Fools fear fate, wise men endure fate**”
  • latin: [Sulti timent Fortunam, sapientes ferunt]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is foolish to mock a favorite of the gods**”
  • latin: [Sultitia est insectari, quem di diligunt]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is foolish to complain about adversity when it is your fault**”
  • latin: [Stultum est queri de adversis, ubi culpa est tua]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is foolish to want to take revenge on another by harming yourself**”
  • latin: [Stultum est ulcisci velle alium poena sua]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is foolish to want to set your neighbor on fire for revenge**”
  • latin: [Stultum est vicinum velle ulcisci incendio]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Fortune takes away the sense of those whom it wants to lose**”
  • latin: [Stultum facit Fortuna, quem vult perdere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who protects the common also protects his own**”
  • latin: [Sua servat, qui salva esse vult communia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A kind man tries to persuade first, then to correct**”
  • latin: [Suadere primum, dein corrigere benivoli est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who cannot spare his own favors his enemies**”
  • latin: [Suis qui nescit parcere, inimicis favet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Power dependent on others quickly loses its power**”
  • latin: [Summissum Imperium non tenet vires suas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Being defeated by the stronger brings some satisfaction**”
  • latin: [Superari a superiore pars est gloriae]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To crush a man asking for mercy – that is not bravery, but cruelty**”
  • latin: [Supplicem hominem opprimere virtus non est, sed crudelitas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Suspecting an honest man is a silent resentment for him**”
  • latin: [Suspicio probatis tacita iniuria est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Suspicion itself creates enemies**”
  • latin: [Suspicio sibi ipsa rivales parit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Suspicious refuses to trust all**”
  • latin: [Suspiciosus omnium damnat fidem]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Righteousness always follows its brilliance**”
  • latin: [Suum sequitur lumen semper innocentia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Silence for a fool is a sign of wisdom**”
  • latin: [Taciturnitas stulto homini pro sapientia est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The judge, when passing a sentence, decides about himself as well as about the accused**”
  • latin: [Tam de se iudex iudicat quam de reo]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A miser is always short – whether he has or not**”
  • latin: [Tam deest avaro quod habet, quam quod non habet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The wise become angry late, but seriously**”
  • latin: [Tarde sed graviter sapiens mens irascitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “By touching everything, even the blind go safely**”
  • latin: [Temptando cuncta caeci quoque tuto ambulant]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He lays a treasure in the grave who makes an old man heir**”
  • latin: [Thesaurum in sepulcro ponit, qui senem heredem facit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The timid says he is careful and the stingy says he is thrifty**”
  • latin: [Timidus cautum se vocat sordidum parcum]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Don’t irrigate other people’s fields while yours is dry**”
  • latin: [Tui cum sitiant ne agros alienos ripa]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “All are safe where one is defended**”
  • latin: [Tuti sunt omnes, unus ubi defenditur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “When a poor man wants to appear rich, he loses**”
  • latin: [Ubi coepit ditem pauper imitari, perit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “When you buy someone else’s, be careful not to sell your own**”
  • latin: [Ubi emas aliena, vendas necesse est tua]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Where destinies err, human plans fail**”
  • latin: [Ubi fata peccant, hominum consilia excidunt]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Where the innocent is condemned, part of his homeland is in exile**”
  • latin: [Ubi innocens damnatur, pars patriae exsulat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “When the innocent fear, he condemns the judge**”
  • latin: [Ubi innocens formidat, damnat iudicem]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Where the accuser decides, it is not law but force that matters**”
  • latin: [Ubi judicat qui accusat, vis, non lex valet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Where freedom has fallen, no one dares to speak freely**”
  • latin: [Ubi libertas cecidit, audet libere nemo loqui]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Where no one is afraid of anything, something to be feared is born**”
  • latin: [Ubi nihil timetur, quod timeatur nascitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Where all sin, hope of remorse is lost**”
  • latin: [Ubi omnes peccant, spes querelae tollitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Where life is only constant fear, death is best**”
  • latin: [Ubi omnis vita metus est, mors est optima]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “When the elder sins, the younger learns evil**”
  • latin: [Ubi peccat aetas major, male discit minor]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Where sin is quickly corrected, public opinion usually forgives**”
  • latin: [Ubi peccatum cito corrigitur, fama solet ignoscere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “When you are with your loved ones and far from your homeland, you don’t miss your homeland**”
  • latin: [Ubi cum tuis sis, patriam non desideres]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Wherever there is honor, fidelity is always sacred**”
  • latin: [Ubicumque pudor est, semper ibi sancta est fides]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “One day brings punishment, many days mark it**”
  • latin: [Unus dies poenam affert, quam multi irrogant]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is right that one dies so that many may improve**”
  • latin: [Ut plures corrigantur, rite unus perit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Iron in furrow is more practical than brass in battle**”
  • latin: [Utilius ferrum est in sulco, quam orichalcum est in proelio]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A commander should consider all pros and cons**”
  • latin: [Utrumque casum aspicere debet, qui imperat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Regret follows quick decision**”
  • latin: [Velox consilium sequitur paenitentia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “For every word, it is important how you understood it**”
  • latin: [Verbum omne refert, in quam partem intellegas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “When it comes to our salvation, even a lie counts as truth**”
  • latin: [Verum est, quod pro salute fit mendacium]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Tolerating an old insult, you invite a new one**”
  • latin: [Veterem ferendo iniuriam invites novam]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To conquer is noble, to oppress is cruel, to forgive is beautiful**”
  • latin: [Vincere est honestum, opprimere acerbum, pulchrum ignoscere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A good man knows no iniquity**”
  • latin: [Viri boni est nescire iniuriam pati]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “What you cannot achieve with bravery, you can achieve with flattery**”
  • latin: [Virtute quod non possis, blanditia auferas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “No one can honestly reject the love of virtue**”
  • latin: [Virtuti amorem nemo honeste denegat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is better to trust courage than fate**”
  • latin: [Virtuti melius quam Fortunae creditur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Fear is an obstacle to all bravery**”
  • latin: [Virtutis omnis impedimentum est timor]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It’s fun to see what you’ve achieved through virtue**”
  • latin: [Virtutis spolia cum videt, gaudet labor]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The face of bravery has a share of victory in it**”
  • latin: [Virtutis vultus partem habet victoriae]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Nature makes a good husband, not social position**”
  • latin: [Virum bonum natura, non ordo facit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A carefree life is like a royal life without any worries**”
  • latin: [Vita otiosa regnum est, et curae minus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is not the flesh but the will that creates the indecent act**”
  • latin: [Voluntas impudicum, non corpus facit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Pleasure that is hard to find is the sweetest**”
  • latin: [Voluptas e difficili data dulcissima est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Hidden pleasure is more fear than joy**”
  • latin: [Voluptas tacita metus est magis quam gaudium]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It makes a huge difference whether you’re smart or just look smart**”
  • latin: [Vultu an natura sapiens sis, multum interest]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It goes badly for the sick man who makes the doctor the beneficiary of his will”
  • latin: [Male secum agit aeger, medicum qui heredem facit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The greatest empire may be lost by the misrule of its governors”
  • latin: [Male imperando summum imperium amittitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The doctor will be ill if everyone is well**”
  • latin: [Male habebit medicus nemo si male habuerit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whatever happens in trusting a lucky chance is wrong**”
  • latin: [Male geritur, quicquid geritur Fortunae fide]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Those who would do evil never fail to find a reason”
  • latin: [Male facere qui vult, nunquam non causam invenit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A bad word remembered becomes more painful**”
  • latin: [Male dictum interpretando facias acrius]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “When you want to make a bad thing good, you should condemn it**”
  • latin: [Malam rem, cum velis honestare, improbes]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Evil by nature never need a teacher**”
  • latin: [Malae naturae nunquam doctore indigent]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A bad death is an affront to fate**”
  • latin: [Mala mors necessitatis contumelia est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It’s a bad idea to get used to someone else’s**”
  • latin: [Mala est voluntas ad alienum consuescere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Evil is medicine that works against nature**”
  • latin: [Mala est medicina, ubi aliquid naturae perit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Evil is the poverty that is born of abundance**”
  • latin: [Mala est inopia, ex copia quae nascitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It’s bad when you have to appeal to mercy**”
  • latin: [Mala causa est, quae requirit misericordiam]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A great crime [always] causes outrage**”
  • latin: [Magnum secum affert crimen indignatio]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “An heir by birth is more reliable than by will**”
  • latin: [Magis fidus heres nascitur quam scribitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “More can he who does not know what failure can mean**”
  • latin: [Mage valet, qui nescit quod calamitas valet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The envy of friends is more to be feared than the snares of enemies**”
  • latin: [Mage cavenda amicorum invidia quam insidiae hostium]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Profit cannot be made without another’s loss”
  • latin: [Lucrum sine damno alterius fieri non potest]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Harm is gain if it quenches the pain**”
  • latin: [Lucrum est dolorem posse damno exstinguere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Far away is all that desire demands**”
  • latin: [Longinquum est omne quod cupiditas flagitat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Dignity entrusted to an unworthy person is a shameful act**”
  • latin: [Loco ignominiae est apud indignum dignitas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Who hides in remote places lives by his law**”
  • latin: [Locis remotis qui latet, lex est sibi]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Give your tongue free rein when you seek the truth”
  • latin: [Licentiam des linguae, cum verum petas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Recklessness is guided not by reason but by caprice**”
  • latin: [Libido, non iudicium, est quod levitas sapit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Passion subdues everyone, even imperceptibly**”
  • latin: [Libido cunctos etiam sub vultu domat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The law sees the angry man, the angry man does not see the law**”
  • latin: [Lex videt iratum, iratus legem non vide]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “There is a universal law that commands that we shall be born and we shall die”
  • latin: [Lex universa est, quae iubet nasci et mori]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Fortune is fickle; she soon wants back what she has given”
  • latin: [Levis est Fortuna: cito reposcit, quod dedit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Anger has a habit of forgetting the law**”
  • latin: [Legem solet obliviscier iracundia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Guilty fear the law, the innocent fear fate**”
  • latin: [Legem nocens veretur, Fortunam innocens]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “If a new fame is not born, the old one also dies**”
  • latin: [Laus nova nisi oritur, etiam vetus amittitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Fire, if it does not burn anything, cannot spread**”
  • latin: [Late ignis lucere, ut nihil urat, non potest]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Promiscuity and respectability are never compatible**”
  • latin: [Lascivia et laus nunquam habent concordiam]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “You make a mistake once; if you do it again, it’s already your fault**”
  • latin: [Lapsus ubi semel sis, sit tua culpa, si iterum cecideris]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The pain of the enemy is the remedy for the pain experienced**”
  • latin: [Laeso doloris remedium inimici est dolor]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Acquitting the guilty convicts the judge”
  • latin: [Iudex damnatur, cum nocens absolvitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Only variety can bring pleasure**”
  • latin: [Iucundum nihil est, nisi quod reficit varietas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Pleasant is the stain of the enemy’s blood**”
  • latin: [Iucunda macula est ex inimici sanguine]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whoever left a trail before, paved the way for others**”
  • latin: [Iter est, quacumque dat prior vestigium]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “So trust your friend that you leave no room for enmity**”
  • latin: [Ita crede amico, ne sit inimico locus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Treat your friend as if he could soon become your enemy**”
  • latin: [Ita amicum habeas, posse ut facile fieri hunc inimicum putes]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who wants least needs least”
  • latin: [Is minimum eget mortalis, qui minimum cupit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To call yourself happy is to provoke disaster”
  • latin: [Irritare est calamitatem, cum te felicem voces]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “When angry, whatever he says comes out of his mouth as an accusation**”
  • latin: [Iratus nihil non criminis loquitur loco]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “When angry, he also considers vice to be a good solution**”
  • latin: [Iratus facinus etiam consilium putat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Avoid the angry quickly, the enemy constantly**”
  • latin: [Iratum breviter vites, inimicum diu]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The individual who conquers his/her anger overcomes a very great enemy**”
  • latin: [Iracundiam qui vincit, hostem superat maximum]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “When you keep someone against their will, you encourage them to leave**”
  • latin: [Invitum cum retineas, exire incites]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whoever passes by sin invites sin**”
  • latin: [Invitat culpam, qui peccatum praeterit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Only the brave or the fortunate are able to endure envy”
  • latin: [Invidiam ferre aut fortis aut felix potest]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Envy angers silently, but hostilely**”
  • latin: [Invidia tacite, sed inimice irascitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Jealousy says what it thinks, not what it really is**”
  • latin: [Invidia id loquitur quod videt, non quod subest]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Submission is sometimes half the stupidity**”
  • latin: [Interdum habet stultitiae partem facilitas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The desire for wealth is organized poverty**”
  • latin: [Instructa inopia est in divitiis cupiditas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Invectives are never silent**”
  • latin: [Invectae vocis numquam libertas tacet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To poverty many things are lacking; to avarice, everything”
  • latin: [Inopiae desunt multa, avaritiae omnia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The one who gives quickly gives a double benefit to the needy”
  • latin: [Inopi beneficium bis dat, qui dat celeriter]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The remedy for offenses is to forget them”
  • latin: [Iniuriarum remedium est oblivio]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “You commit a crime yourself if you don’t act against it**”
  • latin: [Iniuriam ipse facias, ubi non vindices]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is easier to commit injustice than to endure it**”
  • latin: [Iniuriam facilius facias quam feras]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The ears bear insult more easily than the eyes**”
  • latin: [Iniuriam aures facilius quam oculi ferunt]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To take revenge on an enemy is like getting a second life**”
  • latin: [Inimicum ulcisci vitam accipere est alteram]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The wise fear an enemy, no matter how small”
  • latin: [Inimicum quamvis humilem docti est metuere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The loss of an enemy does not cause tears**”
  • latin: [Inimico exstincto exitium lacrimae non habent]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Pleas never reach the enemy’s heart**”
  • latin: [Inimici ad animum nullae conveniunt preces]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “One ungrateful man does an injury to all who are wretched”
  • latin: [Ingratus unus omnibus miseris nocet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The benefits (of a thing) are not welcome to those for whom fear is a companion”
  • latin: [Ingrata sunt beneficia, quibus comes est metus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A noble mind cannot bear verbal insult**”
  • latin: [Ingenuus animus non fert vocis verbera]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “You insult honor when you ask a person without honor**”
  • latin: [Ingenuitatem laedas, cum indignum roges]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Nobility accepts no insult**”
  • latin: [Ingenuitas non recipit contumeliam]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The subordinate knows every sin of the superior**”
  • latin: [Inferior rescit, quicquid peccat superior]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Laziness is expressed in avoiding effort**”
  • latin: [Inertia indicatur, cum fugitur labor]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Saying no to work is laziness**”
  • latin: [Inertia est laboris excusatio]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Doubt is half the wisdom**”
  • latin: [Incertus animus dimidium est sapientiae]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “In love, joy is always at odds with suffering**”
  • latin: [In Venere semper certat dolor et gaudium]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To sin in a shameful thing is to sin twice**”
  • latin: [In turpi re peccare bis delinquere est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “In times of crisis, boldness is all”
  • latin: [In rebus dubiis plurimi est audacia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The greedy individual is good to no one, but to himself he is the worst”
  • latin: [In nullum avarus bonus est, in se pessimus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “For the poor, injustice easily becomes immense**”
  • latin: [In misero facile fit potens iniuria]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “In poverty, even life itself is an insult**”
  • latin: [In miseria vita etiam contumelia est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “No one is accustomed to hoping for good things in the midst of adversity, except the one who does no harm”
  • latin: [In malis sperare bene nisi innocens nemo solet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “In pronouncing judgment, haste is criminal”
  • latin: [In iudicando criminosa est celeritas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To an unhappy man, a smile is also an insult**”
  • latin: [In calamitoso risus etiam iniuria est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “In love, anger is always a liar**”
  • latin: [In amore semper mendax iracundia est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The cause of unhappiness is always sought in love**”
  • latin: [In amore semper causa damni quaeritu]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “In love, beauty matters more than social position**”
  • latin: [In amore forma plus valet quam auctoritas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “You sin with impunity against those who have sinned before**”
  • latin: [Impune pecces in eum, qui peccat prior]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who repents of his sins only sins unintentionally**”
  • latin: [Imprudens peccat, quem peccati paenitet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The one who suffers shipwreck twice is unjust to blame Neptune”
  • latin: [Improbe Neptunum accusat, qui iterum naufragium facit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The culprit is convicted on the day the crime was committed**”
  • latin: [Illo nocens se damnat, quo peccat die]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Man tends to forgive those who are ashamed of their guilt**”
  • latin: [Ignoscere hominum est, ubi pudet cui ignoscitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Fire also retains its heat in iron**”
  • latin: [Ignis calorem suum etiam in ferro tenet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “There is always victory where is agreement**”
  • latin: [Ibi semper est victoria, ubi concordia est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Where laws have their power, there is a strong nation**”
  • latin: [Ibi pote valere populus, ubi leges valent]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Alleged crime is made heavier by silence**”
  • latin: [Iactum tacendo crimen facias acrius]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Every virtue remains hidden unless publicity makes it visible**”
  • latin: [Iacet omnis virtus, fama nisi late patet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A poor man cannot fall either from high or hard**”
  • latin: [Humilis nec alte cadere, nec graviter potest]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The best competition is in the service of humanity**”
  • latin: [Humanitatis optima est certatio]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Honor decorates the honest man, and stigmatizes the dishonest man**”
  • latin: [Honos honestum decorat inhonestum notat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Noble reputation is the second inheritance**”
  • latin: [Honestus rumor alterum est patrimonium]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “You insult honesty when you defend a dishonest person**”
  • latin: [Honestum laedis cum pro indigno intervenis]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Acts with dignity who succumbs to the course of time**”
  • latin: [Honeste servit qui succumbit tempori]
  • description: in the sense: we should accept whatever appear ahead us; then we will keep our dignity
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Rightly spare the dishonest to protect the honest**”
  • latin: [Honeste parcas improbo ut parcas probo]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The end justifies the means”
  • latin: [Honesta turpitudo est pro causa bona]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A man, when he is merciful towards an unhappy man, thinks of himself**”
  • latin: [Homo, qui in homine calamitoso est misericors, meminit sui]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Man has been lent to life, not given”
  • latin: [Homo vitae commodatus non donatus est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A person dies as often as he loses his loved ones”
  • latin: [Homo totiens moritur quotiens amitit suos]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A man always thinks something other than what fate has destined for him**”
  • latin: [Homo semper aliud Fortuna aliud cogitat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Happiness is invented so that a person can be unhappy**”
  • latin: [Homo ne sit sine dolore Fortunam invenit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A man, when angry, is beside himself”
  • latin: [Homo extra corpus est suum cum irascitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A man runs out of ideas when he encounters too many possibilities**”
  • latin: [Homini tunc deest consilium cum multa invenit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Poverty forces a man to experience everything**”
  • latin: [Hominem experiri multa paupertas iubet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Opportunity can often break an honest man**”
  • latin: [Hominem etiam frugi flectit saepe occasio]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “How terrible is he who thinks that death does not concern him**”
  • latin: [Heu, quam est timendus qui mori tutum putat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Alas!, how difficult is the custody of glory!**”
  • latin: [Heu, quam difficilis gloriae custodia est!]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Ah, how poor is the one who has no voice in suffering**”
  • latin: [Heu, dolor quam miser est, qui in tormento vocem non habet!]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Ah, what a heavy slavery conscience is!**”
  • latin: [Heu, conscientia animi gravis est servitus!]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Ah, how many things must be regretted by a man who lives long**”
  • latin: [Heu quam multa paenitenda incurunt vivendo diu]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Ah, how reluctantly he learns to serve who has learned to rule**”
  • latin: [Heu quam miserum est discere servire ubi sis doctus dominari]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Ah, how bad it is to be hurt by one who cannot be blamed**”
  • latin: [Heu quam miserum est ab eo laedi, de quo non possis quaeri]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The weeping of an heir is laughter under a mask”
  • latin: [Heredis fletus sub persona risus est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is better to endure this heir that is already there than to look for a new one**”
  • latin: [Heredem ferre utilius est quam quaerere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A smooth tongue makes its own poison”
  • latin: [Habet suum venenum blanda oratio]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “In misfortune he finds help who, being in happiness, helped**”
  • latin: [Habet in adversis auxilia, qui in secundis comodat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Multiple marriages are frowned upon**”
  • latin: [Habent locum maledicti crebrae nuptiae]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The evil that befalls the inexperienced is more harmful**”
  • latin: [Gravius nocet, quodcumque inexpertum accidit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The worst evil is that which is inaccessible to our eyes**”
  • latin: [Gravius malum omne est, quod sub adspectu latet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The power of custom is most weighty”
  • latin: [Gravissimum est imperium consuetudinis]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The wrath of an honest man is the heaviest**”
  • latin: [Gravissima est probi hominis iracundia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The enemy that hides in your heart is much more dangerous**”
  • latin: [Gravis est inimicus is, qui latet in pectore]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A serious mind does not hesitate when making decisions**”
  • latin: [Gravis animus dubiam non habet sententiam]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is a heavy punishment for the soul to regret after the fact**”
  • latin: [Gravis animi poena est, quem post facti paenitet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Prejudice is hard when it’s not based on good judgment**”
  • latin: [Grave praeiudicium est, quod iudicium non habet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “What you have given with joy is hard to receive with sorrow**”
  • latin: [Grave est quod laetus dederis tristem recipere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A heavy accusation, even when mildly spoken, hurts**”
  • latin: [Grave crimen, etiam leviter cum est dictum, nocet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He sins twice who is not ashamed of transgression**”
  • latin: [Geminat peccatum, quem delicti non pudet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Those who do not want to be defeated fight to the death**”
  • latin: [Functuri pugnant, ne se superari sinant]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Patience, too often put to the test, leads to rage**”
  • latin: [Furor fit laesa saepius patientia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Lightning is where power resides with anger**”
  • latin: [Fulmen est, ubi cum potestate habitat iracundia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is in vain for one who does not receive compassion to ask**”
  • latin: [Frustra rogatur, qui misereri non potest]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Frustrated, when he has come to old age, he repeats his youth”
  • latin: [Frustra cum ad senectam ventum est, repetas adulescentiam]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Thrifty is a fancy word for poverty**”
  • latin: [Frugalitas miseria est rumoris boni]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Consciousness restrains language**”
  • latin: [Frenos imponit linguae conscientia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Accepting what you can’t give back is cheating**”
  • latin: [Fraus est accipere, quod non possis reddere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is easier to find fortune than to keep hold of it”
  • latin: [Fortunam citius reperias quam retineas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Fortune is like glass; when it sparkles, it is broken”
  • latin: [Fortuna vitrea est: tum cum splendet frangitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “After Fortune has broken something, it’s useless to try to repair it”
  • latin: [Fortuna unde aliquid fregit, cassum est reficere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Happiness can be more important to a person than reason**”
  • latin: [Fortuna in homine plus quam consilium valet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Fortune is never content that it caused failure once**”
  • latin: [Fortuna obesse nulli contenta est semel]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who is too favored by fortune deprives him of reason**”
  • latin: [Fortuna nimium quem fovet, stultum facit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “When Fortune flatters, she does it to betray”
  • latin: [Fortuna cum blanditur, captatum venit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A handsome face is a silent recommendation”
  • latin: [Formosa facies muta commendatio est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Trust, once gone, is hard to come back**”
  • latin: [Fides in animum, unde abiit, vix nunquam redit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He who loses trust has nothing more to lose**”
  • latin: [Fidem qui perdit, nihil pote ultra perdere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A person who has not had trust cannot lose it**”
  • latin: [Fidem nemo unquam perdit, nisi qui non habet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Endure and blame no one for what you can’t change**”
  • latin: [Feras, non culpes quod mutari non potest]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Endure what hurts so that you can endure what benefits you**”
  • latin: [Feras quod laedit, ut quod prodest perferas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Endure the hard so you can endure the easy**”
  • latin: [Feras difficilia, ut facilia perferas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To rule a woman’s nature is to lose all hope of peace**”
  • latin: [Feminae naturam regere desperare est otium]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Happy dishonesty is the defeat of the noble**”
  • latin: [Felix improbitas optimorum est calamitas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “In difficult matters, happiness is achieved through bravery**”
  • latin: [Felicitatem in dubiis virtus impetra]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The one who flees from the court confesses to a crime**”
  • latin: [Fatetur facinus is qui iudicium fugit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The master is a slave when he fears those whom he commands**”
  • latin: [Famulatur dominus, ubi timet quibus imperat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Many strive for publicity, few for a clear conscience**”
  • latin: [Famam curant multi pauci conscientiam]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “False slander is an unkindly lie**”
  • latin: [Falsum maledictum malevolum mendacium est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Even falsehood can be true if the overlord so decides**”
  • latin: [Falsum etiam est verum, quod constituit superior]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Fortune takes a step that no one sees**”
  • latin: [Facit gradum Fortuna, quem nemo videt]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Honor grows easier than it is born**”
  • latin: [Facilius crescit quam inhoatur dignitas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Gullibility can lead to stupidity**”
  • latin: [Facilitas animi ad partem stultitiae rapit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “You’ll easily find folk to do kindnesses by cultivating those who have done them”
  • latin: [Facile invenies qui bene faciant, cum qui fecerunt coles]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The end always judges what was earlier**”
  • latin: [Extrema semper de ante factis iudicant]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “An outcast who has no home is like a dead man who has no grave**”
  • latin: [Exsul, ubi ei nusquam domus est, sine sepulcro est mortuus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whoever turns away from his homeland chooses exile**”
  • latin: [Exsilium patitur, patriae qui se denegat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Chance harms the powerful much easier**”
  • latin: [Excelsis multo facilius casus nocet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “From the faults of another a wise man will correct his own”
  • latin: [Ex vitio alterius sapiens emendat suum]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “After a long dispute, reconciliation is more beautiful**”
  • latin: [Ex lite multa, gratia est formosior]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Human grief made Fortune a goddess**”
  • latin: [Ex hominum questu facta Fortuna est dea]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Even without a legal provision, remorse alone is a punishment**”
  • latin: [Etiam sine lege poena est conscientia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Even those who commit lawlessness hate lawlessness**”
  • latin: [Etiam qui faciunt, oderunt iniuriam]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is right to keep your word also in the face of a sinner**”
  • latin: [Etiam peccanti recte praestatur fides]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is sometimes expedient to forget who (or what) you are”
  • latin: [Etiam oblivisci quid sis, interdum expedit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Pain makes even the innocent man a liar**”
  • latin: [Etiam innocentes cogit mentiri dolor]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Good faith is right when dealing with the enemy**”
  • latin: [Etiam hosti est aequus, qui habet in consilio fidem]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “In desire, swiftness itself is delay**”
  • latin: [Etiam celeritas in desiderio mora est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Even one hair has a shadow”
  • latin: [Etiam capillus unus habet umbram suam]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Often times it is bad to get used to what is good**”
  • latin: [Etiam bonis saepe malum est assuescere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The poor’s thinking is sometimes insufficient and sometimes excessive**”
  • latin: [Et deest et superest miseris cogitatio]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is always deeply ignorant not to know when things are wrong**”
  • latin: [Est utique profunda ignorantia nescire, quod pecces]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Those who consider what they took by force are wrong**”
  • latin: [Errat datum qui sibi quod extortum est putat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “An angry one should take his weapon away, not give it**”
  • latin: [Eripere telum, non dare irato decet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Ah, how sad it is when we fear the arrival of old age**”
  • latin: [Eheu! quam miserum est, fieri metuendo senem!]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To escape greed is a great victory**”
  • latin: [Effugere cupiditatem regnum est vincere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is difficult to deny a supervisor’s request**”
  • latin: [Durum est negare superior, cum supplicat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Kindness is double, especially when it comes quickly**”
  • latin: [Duplex fit bonitas, simul accessit celeritas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• When life is beautiful, it is easier to die**”
  • latin: [Dum est vita grata, mortis condicio optima est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Also avoid sweet things as they can become bitter**”
  • latin: [Dulce etiam fugias, fieri quod amarum potest]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Soldiers’ bravery lies in the commander’s prudence**”
  • latin: [Ducis in consilio posita est virtus militum]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Thanks to the request of the stronger, you also become stronger in part**”
  • latin: [Dominari ex parte est, cum superior supplicat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Pain diminishes where it cannot grow**”
  • latin: [Dolor decrescit, ubi, quo crescat, non habet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Suffering of the soul is much heavier than the suffering of the body**”
  • latin: [Dolor animi multo gravior est quam corporis]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “When you call a man ungrateful, it’s like using all the bad words**”
  • latin: [Dixeris maledicta cuncta, cum ingratum hominem dixeris]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “You have to prepare for war for a long time in order to win faster**”
  • latin: [Diu apparandum est bellum ut vincas celerius]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A merciful judge weakens the law”
  • latin: [Dissolvitur lex, cum fit iudex misericors]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “By disagreement, consent becomes more expensive**”
  • latin: [Discordia fit carior concordia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Next day is the student of the previous one**”
  • latin: [Discipulus est prioris posteriori dies]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A loss we do not know is not a loss**”
  • latin: [Dimissum quod nescitur, non amittitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Accusations must not be obeyed easily**”
  • latin: [Difficilem habere oportet aurem ad crimina]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is difficult for pain to come to terms with patience**”
  • latin: [Difficile est dolori convenire cum patientia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Be careful, today is quickly taking away what yesterday gave you**”
  • latin: [Dies quod donat timeas: cito raptum venit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A cry of women makes their lie credible **”
  • latin: [Didicere flere feminae in mendacium]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “I think the gods laugh when a happy man approaches them with a request**”
  • latin: [Deos ridere credo, cum felix vocat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To deliberate about useful things is the safest delay”
  • latin: [Deliberare utilia mora tutissima est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “One has to consider many times, decide only once**”
  • latin: [Deliberandum est saepe statuendum est semel]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “When we reflect, we often miss an opportunity**”
  • latin: [Deliberando saepe perit occasio]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Wisdom can be learned through reflection**”
  • latin: [Deliberando discitur sapientia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “You’ll find more friends in the evening than in the morning**”
  • latin: [Decima hora amicos plures quam prima repperies]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Do not speak ill of your enemy, but plan it”
  • latin: [De inimico ne loquaris male sed cogites]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Damage is the profit that results from bad reputation**”
  • latin: [Damnum appellandum est cum mala fama lucrum]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Condemned man’s words have a voice, but they have no strength**”
  • latin: [Damnati lingua vocem habet, vim non habet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To rebuke someone who needs help is to condemn him**”
  • latin: [Damnare est obiurgare, cum auxilio est opus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Desire and anger are the worst advisors”
  • latin: [Cupido atque ira consultores pessimi]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “What can happen to any can happen to all”
  • latin: [Cunctis potest accidere quod cuivis potest]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “When wrongs do benefit, the one who does good goes astray**”
  • latin: [Cum vitia prosunt, peccat, qui recte facit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “When the wise overcomes himself, he is by no means defeated**”
  • latin: [Cum se ipse vincit sapiens minime vincitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is dangerous when the subordinate is looking for something that the superior is hiding**”
  • latin: [Cum periclo inferior querit quod superior occulit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Reconciling with the enemy is a risk for everyone**”
  • latin: [Cum inimico nemo in gratiam tuto redit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “When you forgive your enemy, you also make many thankful friends**”
  • latin: [Cum inimico ignoscis amicos gratis complures acquiris]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “When you give a reward to a miser, you encourage him to do harm**”
  • latin: [Cum das avaro praemium, ut nocet rogas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “When you are in love you are not wise, or rather, when you are wise you do not fall in love”
  • latin: [Cum ames non sapias, aut cum sapias non ames]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The best consolation is no guilt**”
  • latin: [Culpa vacare maximum est solatium]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Patience is the cure for all suffer”
  • latin: [Cuivis dolori remedium est patientia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To whom even friends wish death, this one is hated by all**”
  • latin: [Cuius mortem amici expectant, vitam cives oderunt]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “If you refuse to someone you have always given to, it is as if you invited him to a robbery**”
  • latin: [Cui semper dederis, ubi neges, rapere imperes]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whoever has consent to more than is reasonable wants more than can**”
  • latin: [Cui plus licet quam par est, plus vult quam licet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The one everyone talks about has the best in the world**”
  • latin: [Cui omnes bene dicunt, possidet populi bona]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “One who does not have a home of his own is like a dead person without burial**”
  • latin: [Cui nusquam domus est sine sepulcro est mortuus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “When you don’t want to be angry with someone often, get angry once, but good**”
  • latin: [Cui nolis saepe irasci, irascaris semel]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A cruel man is not moved by other people’s tears, but feeds on them**”
  • latin: [Crudelis lacrimis pascitur, non frangitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is cruel to kill a child, not courage**”
  • latin: [Crudelis est, non fortis, qui infantem necat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “In misfortune, rebuke is cruel**”
  • latin: [Crudelis est in re adversa obiurgatio]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “An impatient patient makes the doctor cruel**”
  • latin: [Crudelem medicum intemperans aeger facit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whoever wants to die wants to leave a bad life behind**”
  • latin: [Crimen relinquit vitae, qui mortem appetit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whenever you roll the dice, you will get a different result each time**”
  • latin: [Crebro si iacias aliud alias iaceris]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “By forgiving a fool often, you make a fool unrighteous**”
  • latin: [Crebro ignoscendo facies de stulto improbum]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whoever is always afraid is punished every day**”
  • latin: [Cotidie multatur, qui semper timet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Today is worse than yesterday**”
  • latin: [Cotidie est deterior posterior dies]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Pain is hardly tolerated by reason**”
  • latin: [Convenire cum dolore difficile est sapientiae]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A free and noble man cannot bear to be insulted**”
  • latin: [Contumeliam nec fortis pote nec ingenuus pati]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “There are shared tears where the merciful one**”
  • latin: [Contubernia sunt lacrimarum ubi misericors miserum adspicit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Against the unintelligent, excessive nobility is foolish**”
  • latin: [Contra imprudentem stulta est nimia ingenuitas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “In the face of the enemy one has to be either bold or humble**”
  • latin: [Contra hostem aut fortem oportet esse aut suplicem]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Even a god can’t do much against a happy man**”
  • latin: [Contra felicem vix deus vires habet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is unpleasant to touch painful things**”
  • latin: [Contingere est molestum quae cuiquam dolent]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Contempt for the wise is worse than insulting the foolish**”
  • latin: [Contemni (sapienti) gravius est quam stulto percuti]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Time is man’s best advisor**”
  • latin: [Consultor homini tempus utilissimus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “We bear the old flaws and criticize the new ones**”
  • latin: [Consueta vitia ferimus, nova reprendimus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Many find advice, but only the wise find the solution**”
  • latin: [Consilium inveniunt multi, sed docti explicant]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The prudent in doubts consults**”
  • latin: [Consilium in dubiis remedium prudentis est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “You will conquer more surely by prudence than by passion”
  • latin: [Consilio melius vincas quam iracundia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Watch what you say, not what you think**”
  • latin: [Considera quid dicas, non quid cogites]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Take care of your conscience more than your opinion**”
  • latin: [Conscientiae potius qum famae attenderis]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Conscience is deaf to the pleas of the tongue**”
  • latin: [Conscientia animi nullas invenit linguae preces]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He dies twice who perishes by his own weapons”
  • latin: [Bis interimitur, qui suis armis perit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Twice happy is the one who was earlier unhappy**”
  • latin: [Bis ille miser est ante qui felix fuit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To die at someone else’s wish is to die twice**”
  • latin: [Bis emori est alterius arbitrio mori]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The kind man even questions his own motive for giving”
  • latin: [Benignus etiam causam dandi cogitat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Union of souls is greater than any kinship”
  • latin: [Coniunctio animi maxima est cognatio]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A shipwreck that is common to all is a consolation”
  • latin: [Commune naufragium omnibus solatio est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A well-spoken companion on the road is as good as a carriage”
  • latin: [Comes facundus in via pro vehiculo est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A request is an order when the supervisor asks**”
  • latin: [Cogit rogando quum rogat potentior]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “You must make a lover angry if you wish him to love”
  • latin: [Cogas amantem irasci, amari si velis]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Forgetfulness is a defense against civil war**”
  • latin: [Civilis belli oblivio defensio est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The joys of the wicked soon end with their downfall**”
  • latin: [Cito improborum laeta ad perniciem cadunt]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The fame of a proud man quickly turns into infamy**”
  • latin: [Cito gloria]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “You are quickly relieved of guilt when you regret an act**”
  • latin: [Cito culpam effugias, si incurrisse paenitet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The danger we despise comes quickest upon us”
  • latin: [Citius venit periclum, cum contemnitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A scar on my conscience hurts like a wound**”
  • latin: [Cicatrix conscientiae pro vulnere est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “No occasion to be alert is to be overlooked”
  • latin: [Cavendi nulla est dimittenda occasio]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Be careful about starting something you may regret”
  • latin: [Cave quicquam incipias, quod peniteat postea]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Always beware of those who have deceived you once**”
  • latin: [Cave illum semper qui tibi imposuit semel]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Don’t consider someone you haven’t tried as a friend**”
  • latin: [Cave amicum credas, nisi si quem probaveris]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A misfortune that often passes by you may one day hit you**”
  • latin: [Casus quem saepe transit aliquando invenit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A chaste wife acquires an influence over her husband by obeying him”
  • latin: [Casta ad virum matrona parendo imperat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He is most free from danger, who, even when safe, is on his guard”
  • latin: [Caret periclo, qui etiam cum est tutus cavet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Camel, wanting horns, lost his ears**”
  • latin: [Camelus cupiens cornua aures perdidit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To have comrades in misfortune is consolation for the unhappy**”
  • latin: [Calamitatum habere socios miseris est solatio]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The eyes are blind when the mind is busy elsewhere**”
  • latin: [Caeci sunt oculi, cum animus alias res agit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Keep the memory of anger as short as possible**”
  • latin: [Brevissima esto memoria iracundiaer]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Our life is short but is made longer by misfortunes”
  • latin: [Brevis ipsa vita est sed malis fit longior]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Just remembering to be angry is a brief moment of anger**”
  • latin: [Breve ira ipsa est memoria iracundia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A good person is one who is good for everyone**”
  • latin: [Bonus vir nemo est nisi qui bonus est omnibus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “An honest man never submits to a erring person**”
  • latin: [Bonus animus numquam erranti obsequium commodat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A good person gets angry more when he is more insulted**”
  • latin: [Bonus animus laesus gravius multo irascitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “What is good is suppressed, but never extinguished”
  • latin: [Bonum quod est, supprimitur, numquam exstinguitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is good to see in the misfortune of another what we should shun ourselves”
  • latin: [Bonum est fugienda aspicere in alieno malo]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is also good to provide enemies with a good word**”
  • latin: [Bonum est etiam bona verba inimicis reddere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “In a good man, anger wears off quickly**”
  • latin: [Bonum ad virum cito moritur iracundia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Poor, ready to help is a remorse for the rich**”
  • latin: [Bonorum crimen officiosus est miser]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The severity of a good man is the closest to justice**”
  • latin: [Bono iustitiae proxima est severitas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is quite unrighteous to pretend to be kind**”
  • latin: [Bonitatis verba imitari maior malitia est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He hurts the good who spares the bad”
  • latin: [Bonis nocet quisquis pepercerit malis]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “An honest man does not cheat even at the hour of his death”
  • latin: [Boni est viri etiam in morte nullum fallere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Nothing is worse than being accustomed to good things”
  • latin: [Bonarum rerum consuetudo pessima est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The disgrace that protects against danger may turn out to be beneficial**”
  • latin: [Bona turpitudo est, quae periclum vindicat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Acquired goods, if not put to good use, are merely a burden**”
  • latin: [Bona quae veniunt nisi sustineantur opprimunt]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “People’s good opinion is more certain than money**”
  • latin: [Bona opinio hominum tutior pecunia est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “There is no hour good for one man that is not bad for another”
  • latin: [Bona nemini hora est, ut non alicui sit mala]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A death that ends human suffering is good**”
  • latin: [Bona mors est homini vitae quae exstinguit mala]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Money is put to good use when it is used wisely**”
  • latin: [Bona imperante animo bono est pecunia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A good reputation keeps also in dark times its own gloss”
  • latin: [Bona fama in tenebris proprium splendorem tenet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “There is good shipping that connects honest people**”
  • latin: [Bona est bonos quem iungit navigatio]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The one has compassion is well protected**”
  • latin: [Bona comparat praesidia misericordia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whoever is right is not afraid of any judge**”
  • latin: [Bona causa nullum iudicem verebitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “With allure – not on command – sweet Love arises**”
  • latin: [Blanditia non imperio fit dulcis Venus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He conquers twice who conquers himself in victory”
  • latin: [Bis vincit qui se vincit in victoria]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “You wander twice when you submit to the erring one**”
  • latin: [Bis peccas, cum peccanti obsequium commodas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He is doubly destroyed who perishes by his own arms”
  • latin: [Bis interimitur, qui suis armis perit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Twice miserable is the one who was happy before”
  • latin: [Bis ille miser est ante qui felix fuit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Gratitude will be doubled if you voluntarily offered**”
  • latin: [Bis fiet gratum, quod opus est, ultro si offeras]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To die at someone else’s wish is to die twice**”
  • latin: [Bis emori est alterius arbitrio mori]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The kind man even questions his own motive for giving”
  • latin: [Benignus etiam causam dandi cogitat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The relationship of kind souls is the best relationship**”
  • latin: [Benevoli coniunctio animi maxima est cognatio]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To often do favors teaches others how to return them”
  • latin: [Beneficium saepe dare, docere est, reddere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Someone who doesn’t know how to do a favor shouldn’t ask for one”
  • latin: [Beneficium qui nescit dare, iniuste petit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The one who says he has done a favor is seeking one”
  • latin: [Beneficium qui dedisse se dicit, petit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The one who gives quickly gives a double benefit to the needy”
  • latin: [Beneficium egendi bis dat qui dat celeriter]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “If you are blessing worthy people, you are committing the whole world to gratitude**”
  • latin: [Beneficium dignis ubi des omnes obliges]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whoever does good to a worthy man does good to himself**”
  • latin: [Beneficium dando accepit qui digno dedit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To accept a favor is to sell one’s freedom”
  • latin: [Beneficium accipere libertatem est vendere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He receives the most favors who knows how to return them”
  • latin: [Beneficia plura recipit, qui scit reddere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Only bad or foolish people consider a boon as a gift**”
  • latin: [Beneficia donari aut mali aut stulti putant]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A benefit received quickly is never forgotten**”
  • latin: [Benefici numquam cito dati obliviscere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “This well lived who could die when he wanted to**”
  • latin: [Bene vixit is qui potuit cum voluit mori]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The culprit, by bribing the judge, rightly loses money**”
  • latin: [Bene perdit nummos, iudici cum dat nocens]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is good when the pain disappears with the loss of joy**”
  • latin: [Bene perdis gaudium ubi dolor pariter perit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “We approach the gods the fastest by noble deeds**”
  • latin: [Bene factis proximae ad deos accedimus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He sleeps well who is not conscious that he sleeps ill”
  • latin: [Bene dormit, qui non sentit quam male dormiat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Good ideas, even when they escape our attention, do not disappear**”
  • latin: [Bene cogitata si excidunt, non occidunt]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Well thought-out things can often turn wrong**”
  • latin: [Bene cogitata saepe ceciderunt male]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “To have a good name is a second patrimony”
  • latin: [Bene (vulgo) audire alterum patrimonium est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “No one ought to be mean, especially not the old”
  • latin: [Avidum esse oportet neminem, minime senem]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A miser does nothing right except when he dies”
  • latin: [Avarus nisi cum moritur, nil recte facit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The miser is himself the cause of his misery”
  • latin: [Avarus ipse miseriae causa est suae]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It’s the miser, not the wise man, whom a loss pains”
  • latin: [Avarus damno potius quam sapiens dolet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A greedy mind is satisfied with no amount of gain”
  • latin: [Avarus animus nullo satiatur lucro]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Money excites greed, it does not satisfy”
  • latin: [Avarum irritat, non satiat pecunia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “You will easily discover the miser when you are not the one**”
  • latin: [Avarum facile capias, ubi non sis item]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Can we wish a miser anything worse than a long life?**”
  • latin: [Avaro quid mali optes nisi vivat diu?]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The miser has no life save death delayed”
  • latin: [Avaro non est vita, sed mors, longior]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “For the miser, his own nature is a bitter punishment”
  • latin: [Avaro acerba poena natura est sua]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “For the humiliated, help is an insult**”
  • latin: [Auxilium profligatis contumelia est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Union gives strength to the humble”
  • latin: [Auxilia humilia firma consensus facit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A woman either hates or loves: there is nothing in between”
  • latin: [Aut amat aut odit mulier, nil est tertium]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “When gold argues the cause eloquence is impotent”
  • latin: [Auro suadente nihil potest oratio]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Audacity augments courage; hesitation fear”
  • latin: [Audendo virtus crescit, tardando timor]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whoever is afraid of himself suffers constant torment**”
  • latin: [Assidua ei sunt tormenta qui se ipsum timet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Be careful what you can lose**”
  • latin: [Aspicere oportet, quidquid possis perdere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Talent is not needed where success is achieved by chance**”
  • latin: [Ars non ea est quae casu ad effectum venit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “When a woman is openly bad, she then is at the best”
  • latin: [Aperte mala cum est mulier, tum demum est bona]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “An old woman when she sports makes a sweetheart of herself to death”
  • latin: [Anus cum ludit, morti delicias facit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The stupid old man did not live long, but he was long**”
  • latin: [Annosus stultus non diu vixit diu fuit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A soul that knows fear will find a safe way out**”
  • latin: [Animus vereri qui scit, scit tuta ingredi]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Virtuous women choose their husbands with their hearts, not with their eyes**”
  • latin: [Animo virum pudicae, non oculo eligunt]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whoever wants to be a noble person should have control over the heart and stomach”
  • latin: [Animo ventrique imperare debet qui frugi esse vult]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Keep your feelings under control, so that your feelings do not control you”
  • latin: [Animo imperato ne tibi animus imperet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “When mind rules, money is also a good**”
  • latin: [Animo imperante fit bonum pecunia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A wise man will be master of his mind. A fool will be its slave”
  • latin: [Animo imperabit sapiens, stultus serviet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “One must not trust at all a mind in pain”
  • latin: [Animo dolenti nil oportet credere]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Small table makes food safer**”
  • latin: [Angusta capitur tutior mensa cibus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Everyone inquires if he is rich, no one asks if he is good”
  • latin: [An dives omnes quaerimus, nemo an bonus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The wounds of love can only be healed by the one who made them”
  • latin: [Amoris vulnus idem, qui sanat, facit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is time, not the mind, that puts an end to love”
  • latin: [Amori finem tempus, non animus facit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Love, like a tear, rises from the eye, sets upon the breast”
  • latin: [Amor, ut lacrima, ab oculo oritur, in pectus cadit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Love to inaction can cause inner anxiety”
  • latin: [Amor otiosae causa sollicitudinis]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Love cannot be mixed with fear”
  • latin: [Amor misceri cum timore non potest]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Love can’t be wrested from one, but may slip away”
  • latin: [Amor extorqueri non pote, elabi potest]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “We choose to love, we do not choose to stop loving”
  • latin: [Amor animi arbitrio sumitur, non ponitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The loss that is unknown is no loss at all”
  • latin: [Amissum quod nescitur non amittitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Losing a friend is the greatest of losses”
  • latin: [Amicum perdere est damnorum maximum]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A friend must not be injured, even in jest”
  • latin: [Amicum laedere ne joco quidem licet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Misfortune shows whether you have a true friend or a friend by name only**”
  • latin: [Amicum an nomen habeas, aperit calamitas]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Nothing can be got better than a faithful friend**”
  • latin: [Amico firmo nihil emi melius potest]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Trust is the only bond of friendship**”
  • latin: [Amicitiae coagulum unicum est fides]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Friendship always benefits, love sometimes injures”
  • latin: [Amicitia semper prodest amor et nocet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Friendship could also become a source of harm to oneself”
  • latin: [Amicis ita prodesto, ne noceas tibi]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “If you should endure the vices of your friend, you would make (them) yours”
  • latin: [Amici vitia si feras, facias tua]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Know well, but take no offense at the manners of a friend”
  • latin: [Amici mores noveris, non oderis]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Love your father, if he is just; if he is otherwise, bear with him”
  • latin: [Ames parentem, si aequus est: si aliter, feras]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Love is a sweet fruit to youth, but a crime for an old man”
  • latin: [Amare iuveni fructus est, crimen seni]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Even a god finds it hard to love and be wise at the same time”
  • latin: [Amare et sapere vix deo conceditur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The anger of lovers is what brings love together”
  • latin: [Amantium ira amoris integratio est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The oath of love carries no punishment with it”
  • latin: [Amantis ius iurandum poenam non habet]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A lover is like a torch – blazes the more he’s moved”
  • latin: [Amans, sicut fax, agitando ardescit magis]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Those in love, troubled by suspicions, resembles a daydreaming person**”
  • latin: [Amans quod suspicatur, vigilans somniat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Those in love know with certainty what they’re after but are blind to anything sensible”
  • latin: [Amans quid cupiat scit, quid sapiat non vidit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “An angry lover tells himself many lies”
  • latin: [Amans iratus multa mentitur sibi]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “What we obtain merely by asking is not really our own”
  • latin: [Alienum est omne, quicquid optant evenit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Debt is bitter servitude to a free man”
  • latin: [Alienum aes homini ingenuo acerba est servitus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whoever defends someone else’s cause is as if in the role of an accomplice”
  • latin: [Alienam qui orat causam, se culpat reum]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Whoever defends someone else’s cause is as if in the role of an accomplice”
  • latin: [Alienam qui orat causam, se culpat reum]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Other people’s things are more pleasing to us, and ours to other people”
  • latin: [Aliena nobis, nostra plus aliis placent]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The better a gambler is in his art, the worse he is”
  • latin: [Aleator quanto in arte est melior, tanto est nequior]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Cleverness conceals the sodomite, but his age reveals him”
  • latin: [Aetas cinaedum celat, aetas indicat]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The man whose luck is fair enough gives ruin a wide berth”
  • latin: [Affatim aequa cui Fortuna est interitum longe effugit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “There are some remedies worse than the disease”
• “You die every time you lose someone who is dear to you”
  • latin: [Homo totiens moritur, quotiens amittit suos]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Good for man is death when it ends life’s miseries”
  • latin: [Bona mors est homini, vitae quae exstinguit mala]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae, 67
• “Good courage in a bad circumstance is half of the evil overcome”
  • latin: [Bonus animus in re mala dimidium est mali]
  • description: assigned also to Plautus.
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He gives twice who quickly gives”
  • latin: [Bis dat, qui cito dat]
  • description: help given quickly is much more important.
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae, CCXXXV
• “Fate had different plans”
  • latin: [Dis aliter visum est]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “When you love, you are not wise, and when you are wise, you don’t love”
  • latin: [Cum ames, non sapias, cum sapias, non ames]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Fortune makes a fool of him whom she favors too much”
  • latin: [Stultum facit fortuna, quem perdere vult]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A small debt produces a debtor, a large one, an enemy”
  • latin: [Leve æs alienum debitorem facit, grave inimicum]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Each day succeeding is the student of the one preceding”
  • latin: [Discipulus est prioris posterior dies]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “The eyes are blind when the mind works on other things”
  • latin: [Caeci sunt oculi, cum animus alias res agit]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “A friendship that can end never really began”
• “We lose things certain in pursuing things uncertain”
  • latin: [Certa amittimus, dum incerta petimus]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “It is only the ignorant who despise education”
• “Money alone is the ruling principle of all things”
  • latin: [Pecunia una regimen est rerum omnium]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Admonish your friends secretly, but praise them openly”
  • latin: [Amicos secreto admone, palam lauda]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “With the good man anger is quick to die”
  • latin: [Bonum ad virum cito moritur iracundia]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “In quarreling, the truth is always lost”
• “The man whom many people fear must fear many people”
  • latin: [Multos timere debet, quem multi timent]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “He conquers twice who conquers himself when he is victorious”
  • latin: [Bis vincit, qui se vincit in victoria]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “Our life is short but is made longer by misfortunes”
  • latin: [Brevis ipsa vita est, sed malis fit longior]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae
• “An angry man is again angry with himself when he returns to reason”
  • latin: [Iratus, cum ad se rediit, sibi tum irascitur]
  • source: Publilius Syrus, Sententiae